Bleach 1. Undercover Work

**On Blade's Edge**

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_This is an alternative universe fanfiction. Characters are placed in a world of my own creation. In some cases, the characters and their personalities have been altered to fit the situation._

_Warnings_

_This is a hardcore yaoi fanfiction. This is rated MA. This contains explicit sexual content. This story includes humiliation, non-consensual slavery, forced bondage, sexual torture and rape. This story also contains graphic violence, depictions of human trafficking, drug use and sale, and physical/mental torture. This story is not intended to be read by individuals under the age of 18. Mind the Tags please.  
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_Disclaimer_

_I do not claim ownership of any part of the Bleach universe or of the Bleach characters. Tite Kubo owns this amazing world; I am simply playing within it. Original elements do belong to me. There is no copyright infringement intended and I in no way make money from writing or posting this work of fanfiction._

_Tags _

Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hurt Ichigo, BAMF Kenpachi, Kidnapping, Healing, Aftermath of Torture, Rape Aftermath, Past Torture, Past Sexual Abuse, Past Abuse, Blood and Torture Mental Breakdown, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Parent/Child Incest, Psychological Trauma, Organized Crime, Drug Dealing, Human Trafficking, Assassins &amp; Hitmen, Blackmail, Forced Prostitution, Non-Consensual, Non-Consensual Violence, Non-Consensual Body Modification (Piercings, Genital Piercing, Nipple Piercings), Non-Consensual Voyeurism, Non-Consensual Bondage (Sexual Slavery, Master/Slave, Leashes, Collars, Cock Cages, Gags, Sadism, Beating, Flogging, Forced Orgasm, Cock &amp; Ball Torture, Pain, Rope Bondage, Gangbang, Double Anal Penetration, Object Insertion)

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**Chapter One**

_Undercover Work_

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_Present_

_Sunday May 18, 2014 – 4:30 am_

_Warehouse District, Rukongai, Japan _

_Small Coastal City along the Ojiga-hama Coast_

He hated undercover work. It was, without a doubt, the thing he hated the most. Unfortunately, he was uniquely able to do undercover work of the long term sort. Most people weren't his size and most people weren't as capable of taking care of themselves as he was. At a hulking six foot seven in height, and the fighting skills to go with it, he made a good undercover agent. Of course, with his unique visage, he was not suited to posing as multiple figures. No, he had one persona that had become integrated in the places it was needed. Ken Trent. It was a deceptively simple name, to go with a not so simple appearance. Ken was a beast. And he was, at the current time, the only member of the government agency known as the Shinigami to infiltrate the ranks of the Espada organization. No one else had survived initiation.

The Espada were into everything. This agent, Kenpachi Zaraki of the Shinigami Agency, was currently trying to bust wide their human trafficking section. Under the purview of Nnoitra Gilga, a man that was actually taller than Zaraki by a couple inches but half his width, the human trafficking run by the Espada was perhaps the most prolific in all of the country. So here he was, being led down into the underground section of the holding cells where they kept the 'merchandise'. There was a transponder embedded into a false molar on the left side of his jaw. Once he confirmed that the location was hot, he'd activated it, and his team would bust the entire place wide open. No one else had been able to get in this deep, and it had taken Zaraki almost three long years to do it. Tonight was the culmination of those three years. When this was over, he would get to go back home and take care of his little sister himself instead of leaving her with his aunt.

The place was crawling with gun toting guards, most with M16s or AK-47s he noted, as he descended down the stairs into the darkness below. He knew what to expect, after all, they'd raided empty buildings after they'd cleared out before. He'd been to a few under heavy disguise to keep his identity as one of the Shinigami a secret from prying eyes. Of course, he'd also seen the scene photos for all of them. But it still didn't prepare him. Zaraki wasn't the most emotional of men, as a matter of fact, he preferred to beat the shit out of someone than talk, but there were certain things that were wrong on a primal level. However, this…this was one of them.

The smell hit him first, a mixture of a metallic tang and hospital grade cleansers. That smell alone was enough to rock most people on their heels. The sounds were next, and only his extremely sharp senses picked up the subtle sounds in the otherwise quiet room. The slight rattle of chains, the sniffing and hiccupping of those trying desperately not to weep, and the rapid breathing associated with the opening of the door were louder than he would have liked. He clenched his jaw so tight that he heard the teeth scrape together, the ball in his tongue piercing rolling against the back of his teeth with a sharp click. If it weren't for the goddamned piercing he'd gotten five months ago with this tall freaky bastard he wouldn't be here now.

He'd done a lot in this line of duty; he'd done a lot to get here at this moment, moving through a meat market full of half starved, abused people set to be sold off to the highest bidder. As horrible and terrible as it was to admit it, this room was why he was here. This was why he had given up three years of his life. This is what he'd been working toward. He estimated there had to be at least two hundred cages in this warehouse. Yes, this was exactly where he needed to be.

Three fucking years it had taken to get to this place. Three years of sacrifice and hard work, three years of being "busted" by the cops for show, three years of being a heavy for smaller gangs and beating the crap out of kids who didn't deserve it. Three long fucking years of seeing his little sister once a week if he was lucky, less if he wasn't. Three years for someone of his unique ability and look to get noticed by Aizen. It was a testament to how goddamned picky he was about the people in the highest levels of power in his organization that it took three years for him to even come onto Aizen's radar, and then it was only through his "friendship" with the perverse bastard that ran the human trafficking ring that he got here.

"Well, Ken-chan, so here we are, your job is discipline among the product. Anyone gets out of line, ya put 'em back. Don't care how ya do it, try not to kill them, though. I try but sometimes accidents happen. And feel free to sample the product, anytime you want, all the boys do," Nnoitra said with a wink. "The only ones you can't touch are the ones marked V. Those are the high dollar bitches who've never been fucked, so don't touch them or I'll have ya fuckin' balls, man. We only have three, all girls right now. We had a couple boys…" He grinned. "Ah but I can't resist 'em, 'sides, the demand for virgins is for the females anyway. Nobody who wants the boys gives a fuck if they've had a cock up their ass or not. Half of them don't live long after they're bought anyway to matter."

Zaraki felt his stomach turn. So far, they'd been unable to recover many alive from the Espada's human trafficking ring. The ones they had found dead were in sorry shape. Nnoitra was known as a sadistic pervert, and took out his twisted desires on any of the people that displeased them enough to be thrown aside. He was twisted in some of the worst ways from what he'd found since getting into the organization. He winced at the cages that lined the room; each one had two to three males or females chained to cots inside. That meant there were several hundred people in this warehouse, and most likely, this was all their stock. He couldn't believe the state most of them were in. All were nearly naked, and most of them looked like they'd been beaten at least once or twice recently.

Nnoitra opened a door to an office and led him into the room and had him sit down. The office was small, dominated by a large desk in the middle with a comfortable looking computer chair. On the desk was a plain black laptop. The walls were blank, and the only other furnishing was a small metal folding chair beside the desk.

"Now, we are a careful organization. Everything on my part is here," he said, indicating the laptop on the desk. "If there is a raid while you're down here, open it and when it asks for a password, you put in 'raid' and it deletes everything on the hard drive and sets off an explosive charge inside the case, rendering the thing useless. Don't be holding the goddamned thing when it goes off, either, fucker'll take off yer hands. Now, the password to get in safely is 'suckmycock' all one word. I know, not original, but you know. They told me to make a password, and I told them to suck my cock, and well, that became the password. So anyway, any questions?"

Zaraki shook his head. "Nah, I got this shit. You leaving?"

Nnoitra smiled and nodded. "Yeah, got a meet up with a bastard wanting seven boy-toys. I gotta make sure the shit is legit, because I've had some of our product dead because of bastards who want to pull shit on us. Anyway, just chill in here. I'll send in a favorite flavor to keep ya company. Ya like boys or girls or do ya care?"

Zaraki felt his stomach churn again, more because of what he had to do to keep in his uncover persona than anything else. "Don't matter man, a hole is a hole, right?"

Nnoitra grinned broader and Zaraki wanted to break his face so much right that moment. "You are a man after my fuckin' heart, Ken-chan. Definitely send you my baby boy, then. He's a sweet one, trained all the fucking tears outta him already. And can suck a cock like no one else, but he's got a fine cunt too. My favorite kind. Can't sell him, so I get to play with him instead."

Zaraki sat down and opened the laptop, typing in the password and looking it over with a grin. This was exactly what they were looking for. It might even be enough to nail Nnoitra even if he wasn't here during the bust. He looked up as one of the guards armed with an AK opened the door and threw in a young man who fell to floor in a heap and the sound of jingling chains. Zaraki couldn't see much of him except he had a glaring bright head of orange hair.

"Boss said to drop off his boy. Here ya go. Watch it, he's got a tendency to try and run when yer distracted. Nnoitra already had to whip him twice this week for that shit, but you know he gets beat for less than that too. But he's a good little whore either way, just give the leash a tug if you need to, man, trust me on that one," the man said, shutting the door and Zaraki groaned.

He supposed it was better than some screaming female. He couldn't stand that crap on his best days. He looked over the desk to see he was an incredibly thin young man, not quite a boy, but not quite a man. His best guess he was maybe twenty. He was breathing heavily, and was simply lying on his side where he'd been dropped. He, like the rest of the 'merchandise', was wearing a dirty looking makeshift set of clothes. The t-shirt he was in looked like an old undershirt for someone twice his size, and he was wearing something that looked like a beige skirt or kilt looking thing. His eyes were closed tightly and he was breathing carefully, Zaraki realized and frowned. He was obviously in pain of some sort and trying very hard not to show it.

"Hey, what's your name?" Zaraki said finally, and frowned to see the shudder that went through the boy's body at the sound of his voice.

The boy cracked his eyes open slowly and then just stared at him where he leaned across the desk for a long moment before he swallowed hard and Zaraki could see the trembling in his arms and hands become more pronounced. He sighed. Well, of course he would be scared of him. He wasn't as tall as Nnoitra, but he was a damn sight bigger than him. And obviously he wasn't supposed to talk because he was almost frozen at the mere mention of telling him anything.

Zaraki shook his head and shut the laptop and popped the cap off the false tooth with his tongue to activate the transponder. Within fifteen, the place would be swarming with agents. But until then, he had to do something with the one they dropped in here with him. He couldn't very well send him back out there to his cage, especially not if he was injured like he thought. He sighed again. This was not what he was trained to do; this was his team's department, not his.

"Come here," he said, pushing away from the desk and motioning for him to come over to him.

He looked up and blinked big brown eyes at him and maneuvered to his hands and knees and crawled over to him. He then sat back on his heels, hands in his lap, and stared at the floor with is head bowed. Both wrists and ankles were adorned with thick leather cuffs with rings set in them, and there was a similar thick leather collar around his neck. There was a chain in front of his shirt that ended with a leather handle and another chain that seemed to go down into the shirt he was wearing. Zaraki cringed because he could already see that all the restraints were too tight on him because the flesh at the edges was puffed and red.

Zaraki had seen it many times. The look of someone who'd given up on ever getting away, who'd had the idea of escape beaten out of them. Most of the "merchandise" out in the larger room had that same look. And he wasn't even sure how long this one had been here. He'd been here long enough to become Nnoitra's favorite, it seemed. He wondered what he meant by the statement that he couldn't sell him. He knew that the bastard had one or two that he preferred that never came to be sold off. Unfortunately, Zaraki quickly found that a lot of the dead they'd recovered had been Nnoitra's playthings. Most of them had died due to consistent abuse. And looking at the people in these cages, he understood why.

Nnoitra's "playthings" though were special, he'd found out in the last week. They were the ones that were mutilated and tortured to death. He'd come to find out that the sadistic bastard took a great deal of pleasure in disposing of the "unsalable" merchandise. This amounted to a great deal of sadistic shit when he got them in his backroom that even to Zaraki looked more like a torture chamber. From what he'd discovered, the deaths weren't exactly intentional, but ended up happening when he lost control.

There was a knock and Zaraki saw the flinch in the boy kneeling before him. He looked up. "What?"

"Um, Mr. Trent, there's been an increase in activity in the airspace around this location. Should we start transfer protocols?" he said, looking between him and the orange haired boy on the floor near his knees. "Sorry to interrupt…"

"Whatever, don't move anyone yet, but go ahead and send men to the perimeter, keep minimal guards inside, and lock down between here and the upstairs. Probably nothing, don't want my first night on the job to be a cock up because of paranoia," Zaraki said. "Now, leave me the fuck alone unless they're knocking on the fuckin' door."

The guard grinned and nodded. "Yes, sir. Enjoy yourself, sir. He's a pretty good one, too. Nnoi's let me have a go at him more than once."

The door closed and Zaraki rubbed his temples. "God damn this is fucked up shit," he muttered.

He looked down at the boy. He was definitely an attractive boy, frail and fragile as he looked at the moment. He had long sinewy limbs, and probably could fight pretty well based on the size of the muscles in his arms and legs. Granted, those muscles were no doubt somewhat atrophied after being in captivity for however long he'd been held. Now that he was closer, he could see the varying degrees of bruises on his arms and legs, and the obvious marks of a whip on the backs of his calves. Zaraki leaned forward and reached up and pulled his face upward. The oragnette gasped at the touch and his eyes were wild when he locked onto Zaraki's one dark eye. There was a spark in those eyes though, hidden deep within the depths. Zaraki smiled to himself and nodded. He wasn't dead inside yet, he thought. Not like some of the ones they'd recovered from other human trafficking rings that never recovered from the abuses they'd suffered.

Nnoitra had a pain fetish, so he had piercings all over him as well as tattoos. He saw that he had taken his fetish of inflicting pain out on this boy. He had several facial piercings. There was one in each cheek set with a silver captured ball ring in each. Both sides of his nose had small silver studs in them, and his eyebrows each had a row of what looked like ten or more rings going across them on each side. His lower lip and upper lip were both pierced in the middle and on each side with rather thick looking rings, and Zaraki could assume that they were more than cosmetic in function. Both ears were a mess to be honest. There was nothing artistic or attractive about the piercings. It simply looked like Nnoitra had decided to see how many times he could put metal through his ears. Long thin bars ran through the lobe in several places and he had a pair of gauged rings in either lobe, neither very large, but both were incredibly red, and more than one piercing looked infected. He saw several places in his ear and face where it looked like something had been ripped out, including one barely healed space on the left side of his bottom lip. He couldn't see anything further and didn't have time to investigate what other chunks of metal the fucker had stuck in the kid.

"Listen to me, you are gonna do whatever the fuck I say, and you're going to do it when I say it, okay?" he said sternly.

He nodded almost unperceptively and swallowed. Zaraki could feel the muscles of his throat work under his finger where it was hooked under his jawbone. "First thing, I'm not gonna hurt you, provided you do what I say. Second thing, no matter what happens in the next couple hours, do not leave my side, got it?"

Again, a slight nod and his lip quivered. "I know you're frightened, but you are gonna have to trust me here, okay? You do that and you'll be okay."

He just stared at him for a long moment and Zaraki sighed and let go of his chin, letting him go back to staring at the floor. He wondered how long it would take before he or the rest of them would come around after this hell they'd lived in? There was a loud booming sound a few minutes later and Zaraki grinned. He picked up the laptop and dropped it into a bag beside the desk and looked around for anything else useful. He grabbed a few files that were out and then looked down to see that the boy was watching him from under hooded eyes.

"Stand up," Zaraki said with a curt nod.

He stood up slowly, using the desk to get to his feet but immediately fell to his knees again with a grimace. Zaraki frowned and reached down to pull his legs out from under him and realized that the ankle on the right was badly twisted and purplish. Well, that would complicate matters, but not too much. He was more than capable of carrying such a waifish boy. He sighed and secured the bag on his back and swept him up into his arms quickly, feeling him tremble violently under his touch.

"Come on, look, we're leaving, okay?" he said with a nod and he seemed to relax a bit in his grip, or at least he quit fighting his hold.

The door banged open. "Sir! We're being raided! Should we set the charges on the product room?"

Zaraki frowned at the guard and shook his head. "Nah," he said, and struck out with his right foot, slamming the guard across the hallway with a sick crack. He slid down the wall leaving a bloody trail behind him. He realized the boy in his arms had held onto him even tighter, fingernails digging into his arm and back. Zaraki headed down into the room with the cages and looked around inside them for a moment. Every cage had a charge set at the top of it. Dammit. He had to make sure no one set them off or they'd have a huge body count on their hands. He took off at a jog toward the door between the product basement and the upstairs and heard gunfire. He opened the door and saw three guards standing at the doorway.

"Sir!" the first said. "We were waiting for you before we set the charges. Protocol seven!" he called, but it was the last thing he did. Zaraki had shifted the boy he was holding to one hand and sliced the throat of the two guards in front of him with one deft stroke of a knife he'd drawn from his waist. The third one stared and gaped but he didn't have long before he was gasping for breath and falling to the floor. He saw the controls beside the door and nodded. Nothing had been activated. There was yelling and he looked up to see a familiar face.

"Captain!" shouted the dark haired man as he ran toward him. "You did it, captain, did we get them all?" He flicked his black hair over his shoulder and stroked at the feathered barrette over his temple.

"Nnoitra's gone, but I've taken out four guards. Get someone down and get them out, all the cages are set with charges. I'm afraid there may be remote detonation; once Nnoitra finds out he's been raided he could try and blow the place, so get everyone out as fast as possible and clear of the place. They're all in rough shape, most of them have had the shit beat out of them, and Nnoitra said that everyone was free to 'sample the merchandise', so I have no idea how bad. You got Ikkaku with you?" he said, looking behind him and seeing the bald headed man running up.

"Yeah, he was clearing up a few stragglers. Seems my services are needed immediately, Ikkaku, love, go get the bomb squad, and get the rest of the team to meet us at the hospital in our wing," the dark haired man said with a smile.

"Yumi, be careful, they said there's a lot of explosives…don't touch them until I get down there," Ikkaku said with a frown, glancing at the controls beside the doorway.

He waved. "Sweetie, when am I not?"

He turned and flounced down the steps past Zaraki. "Is Unohana out front?" Zaraki said to Ikkaku.

"She is; this one in need of immediate?" he said, looking over the body Zaraki had clutched to him. He'd curled into Zaraki and buried his face into his chest, and was panting hard by this point.

"I think so, sounds like he has trouble breathing and his ankle's fucked," Zaraki said moving to walk toward the entrance. Ikkaku came along with him to watch his back in case they missed anyone.

"Where'd he come from, boss?" Ikkaku asked.

"Nnoitra wanted to 'entertain' me, so he had them bring me his 'boy' as he called it," Zaraki said, unable to keep the venom out of his voice. "I don't know, said he couldn't sell him so he got to play with him instead. You should see his fucking face, if Nnoitra didn't already have enough piercings to set off a metal detector I'd want to give him more. I wish that fucker was still here, I'd gladly rip his throat out with my bare fuckin' hands. Bastard…all those fuckin' bodies…"

Ikkaku frowned. "What do you mean?"

Zaraki sighed as they headed toward the flashing lights outside. He was trying not to move too fast in case the boy had broken ribs that were pressing into his lungs. "They were Nnoitra's 'flavors', at least the ones in the worst shape. Called them 'unsalable' merchandise, so he had to 'dispose' of them. I guess he breaks them and throws them away when he's done, the fucking bastard, I ever get to have my chance, I'm gonna break his fuckin' neck."

By this point they'd reached a large bus that was actually a mobile medical unit. Ikkaku knocked on the door and it was opened by the long haired woman that scared the pants off everyone in the unit. She was by far scarier than Kenpachi Zaraki.

"Zaraki," she said, stepping back and letting him in. Zaraki went in and moved toward the back where the beds were set up.

"Can you check him out? Might have some ribs broken. He's breathing badly," he said.

"Of course, set him down here," she said and Zaraki found the boy didn't want to let go of him. He frowned.

"Hey, come on, let me put ya down, she's fine, trust me, okay?" he said, staring down at the top of his orange head. He didn't say anything only gripped him tighter. "Um, yeah, Retsu?" he said, looking up at the dark haired woman.

"Zaraki, sit down yourself, I'll check him over like this," she said. "If he's got broken ribs, I don't want you to try and force him to let go, you might hurt him. You don't know your own strength sometimes, Ken."

Zaraki nodded and sat on the bed which groaned under the weight. Zaraki was not a light man. He set about trying to shift the body in his lap a bit and managed to get him somewhat seated, if still with his face hidden in his chest. Zaraki looked up and saw Ikkaku and Yumichika returning looking tired already.

"Boss, we got everyone out, but there's a few who are gonna need some medical attention, nothing immediate, so if you want to ride with the med bus back to the hospital, we can take care of them there…" Yumichika said, glancing at the boy clinging to Zaraki. "It seems you're not going anywhere."

Zaraki looked down, adjusting his grip. "So it seems, don't get it. I mean, I'm a fucking beast, gotta be nastier lookin' than anyone he's seen before, what the hell he's stuck to me for I don't know…"

Yumichika rolled his eyes expressively. "You're so dense, Captain. You don't remember any of the training we went through? You were thinking about beating up people instead of how to deal with victims, weren't you?"

Zaraki snorted. "Get the fuck out and ride with the others to the hospital. Yumi, take an inventory, try and get names and see if we can get locations and try to find families for these people. Have we got a head count yet?"

"Got it, boss, and yeah, we're looking at four hundred twenty three, four with him, total. Biggest bust yet, boss," Yumichika said with a shrug and grabbed Ikkaku by the hand and drug him out.

"I swear, those two…" Zaraki mumbled. "I see they finally got together while I was gone," he said to Unohana as she got ready to draw blood from the boy.

She smiled. "Yes, it seems that Ikkaku came to terms with the fact he loves him. He swears he's not gay; he's just in love with Yumichika. I told him that is quite possible."

Zaraki snorted. "I don't get why everyone's so hung up on gay, straight or whatever. You get with someone you want to get with, what does it matter if they got a cock or a pussy?"

Unohana smiled. "Not many people think that way, Ken. Now, let's see if we can't figure out what's going on here," she said, and tugged experimentally on the boy's shirt. He still didn't look up from where he'd hidden his face.

"Okay, I'm going to take this off you, okay?" she said gently, grabbing a pair of scissors and cutting the t-shirt material away from his back.

She frowned deeply at the lashes across his back where he'd been whipped recently and some strange puncture looking marks in the flesh of his back. She recognized the signs of long term abuse easily. The bleeding wounds were piled on top of scars. There was little doubt in her mind the boy had been systematically abused.

"Can you tell me your name?" she asked, taking an antiseptic and beginning to clean the wounds. He was still silent and winced as she cleaned the bright red rips in his skin.

She then bandaged them after applying an ointment to them and then started listening to his lungs. She nodded. "Not punctured, but I'm guessing his ribs might be fractured, bruised at the best. I'll tape his ankle until we can get back to the hospital," she said, moving around and grabbing the tape to do that. "I really need you to lie down," she told him. He shook his head into Zaraki's shoulder. She sighed and looked up at Zaraki. "I'm going to take some blood now," she said and tied off his arm and took samples. Then she quickly administered a sedative and they watched as he slumped into unconsciousness, his grip finally releasing Zaraki. The bigger man was sure he was going to have bruises from his fingers, which in itself was an accomplishment.

He laid him out on his back finally as Unohana draped a sheet over him, tossing the remains of the dirty skirt to the side as she stripped it. "I think you should stay nearby when he wakes, Ken," she said, beginning a more thorough exam. "He seems to have attached you to semblance of safety. Most likely you're the first person to help him in a long time."

Zaraki was too tired to argue as he sat down beside the exam table. "What can you tell?"

She shifted the sheet and went over his wounds. She unbuckled the collar and cuffs and winced at the deep red lines left in the flesh in all places. She took a glance over the piercings in his face and ears then pulled down the sheet to go over the rest of his body. In a few minutes she covered him back up, leaving most the exam for the hospital. She wasn't touching the piercings on a moving bus.

"He's in his early twenties, definitely been held for a while, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a couple years at least. Severe malnutrition, dehydration, long term abuse, physical and sexual. And that's just from my initial looking over him. I can't tell the extent of any of it without x-rays. You said he was Nnoitra's…ah…boy? We've known from your reports and the other reports he tended to favor a male or two from among the victims. They were the ones that we found afterward, weren't they?"

Zaraki nodded. "He said he was his 'boy'. Don't know for how long."

"Well, even if his abuse by Nnoitra was recent, it wasn't the only abuse he received, if I don't miss my guess. He's currently got two fractured ribs and some severe bruising on his back and pelvis. He may have a fractured pelvic bone; I'll have to do the x-rays to be sure of it. I know we've found other bodies that he's pierced repeatedly like this, but most of them weren't this severe. He's got piercings in almost every place possible, and none of them look to have been done properly or professionally. His face is terrible, and his nipples and genitals have multiple piercings as well, and that's not counting the multiple surface piercings he's had put into him. You saw on his face and ears where some had been ripped out. Some of these I'm not sure will ever heal over without appropriate skin grafts to replace the lost skin. How did he act?" she said, covering him up once more and putting a pillow under his head.

"Defeated," he said, looking up. "Like he had no real reason to try anymore. Stared at the floor. Started shaking at my voice. That's why I was surprised he didn't want to let go of me."

Unohana patted his back. "You rescued him. And you're a huge man, the kind he's used being hurt by, and you helped him instead of hurt him. Like it or not, you're going to have to be involved with this one. You can't abandon him now that he's gained an attachment to you."

Zaraki looked over at him, face slack with sleep and thought that he couldn't have abandoned him even if he hadn't attached to him. Everyone teased him about the fact he had a white knight syndrome and liked to save people. He nodded. There was something there, something in that fragile body that he wanted to see. There was a spark in his eyes, just a dull one, but it was there, a sign of a person that hadn't given in or given up entirely. If he could relight that spark…he wondered what he would find.

_Sunday May 18, 2014 – 5:00 am_

_Red Light District, Rukongai_

_Espada Safehouse_

"What the fuck do ya mean, we were raided?" Nnoitra almost screamed into the phone. "That safe house had _our entire_ inventory. How could we be raided and have no fucking one notice it was coming? Who the fuck dropped the ball? Where's fucking Trent?"

He'd been gone for less than an hour and had stopped off at the safe house to pick up Grimmjow as backup on the meet at six am. He was trying to avoid going alone because the last time he'd done this sort of meeting with these assholes, he'd ended up with a bullet in his shoulder and three of his boys dead. Grimmjow was imposing and more than capable with a gun. Nnoitra didn't use them.

"Sir, we're not sure, but from the footage from the cameras, Trent sent guards to the perimeter, as he should, and locked down the interior when there was an increase in air traffic nearby. After that the cameras go out, and all we know is everything is gone, including Trent. No bodies, no trace, the place is cleaned out. It doesn't look like the charges were set off, though."

Nnoitra frowned and took a steadying breath. "But he's gone too? My baby boy?"

There was a long pause. "Um, yes sir, everyone…"

"Listen to me you fucking ignorant fucks, you best find out what the goddamned hell happened and find my boy pretty damn quickly. He's worth a helluva lot more than just a fucktoy, goddammit, he's fuckin' leverage! I _have _to have that orange haired brat back or Aizen will fuckin' lose his entire hold over his fuckin' father and uncle! Do you want to tell Aizen that he's gone? No? Neither do I! Now, find the fucker that took him, and bring me his goddamned heart on a platter, bonus points if you bring his eyes too, and bring me my fuckin' baby boy in one piece."

He slammed the cell down on the counter hard enough to crack the screen. He didn't care; it was a burn phone anyway. He'd ditch it before the night was done. "Nnoi, what's wrong?" came Zommari's voice from the next room. Zommari always sounded stoned. Of course, he usually was.

"Fucking raided my safe-house, and my entire inventory is gone," he groused.

"And the kid?" came Ulquiorra's voice as he stood next to the taller dark skinned man, making quite the contrast with his perfectly white skin and short stature.

"Gone too. Fuck! If Aizen finds out I've fuckin' lost the kid, I'm done," he said, running a hand over his black hair and groaning.

Grimmjow leaned against the doorframe then. "Got past all my toys? Damn. Whoever they are, they're good to get through all my explosives without blowing the place to kingdom come."

Grimmjow was the security man, of course. He handled explosives on a daily basis and ran the security features for all their warehouses. He'd been the one to rig the crates with the explosives. The thought that he was rigging those cages to explode and kill people that were housed in them made him sick, to be honest. What could he do, however? It wasn't up to him. He had to do what the boss said. Or else. He glanced over where his boys were playing cards in the next room with some of the others that weren't on the top level with him and the other leaders of Aizen's gang. None of them went anywhere without their entourage to be honest.

Nnoitra pushed past him into the next room and flopped into his seat at the poker table. Starrk was lazily shuffling the cards and watching everything. Starrk looked lazy, but he had sharper eyes than anyone ever gave him credit for. The truth was, barely anything got past the sleepy eyed man. His opposite, the lecherous Barragan was sipping at his drink slowly and watching with his two girls, Menoly and Loly, fawning over him. Neither girl wore much in the way of clothes, nor looked completely sober. Barragan was the oldest in the ranks of the Espada Organization. He was almost into his sixth decade, and unfortunately as virile as ever considering the amount of illegitimate children he had to "take care of" all the time.

The Espada's leaders were ten in number. And each one ran a branch of the organization. Starrk handled guns, Barragan prostitution, Nnoitra human trafficking, Grimmjow security and explosives, and Zommari drugs. Ulquiorra handled enforcement. Missing were Tier who handled the business aspect and investments, Yammy, who ran underground fighting, Szayel who manufactured synthetic drugs, and "A" who dealt with gambling. Everyone called him A because his name was Aaroniero Arruruerie and honestly unpronounceable by all but Aizen. He didn't care. As long as he got his money he was happy.

"So what are ya gonna do?" Grimmjow asked, resuming his seat. He was currently winning by quite a bit.

"Fuck if I know," he muttered. "Deal with it tomorrow. Ante up, bastards," he said, dropping his chips into the center of the table.

_Sunday May 18, 2014 – 5:45 am_

_Rukongai Hospital_

"Ichigo Kurosaki," Ikkaku said as he entered the hospital room where Zaraki sat at a desk filling out paperwork. Zaraki looked up.

"Kid's name. And you're not gonna believe this shit."

Zaraki took the file and opened it and blinked. "You're fuckin kidding me."

Ikkaku shook his head. "We're under strict orders from the Old man himself to make sure he's got at least two of us on him at all times, and he wants you to stay on point with him. He's already preparing the Seireitei Safe-House for you to take him to immediately."

Zaraki leaned back, his head thumping into the wall. "So, I fuckin' got handed the son of one of the only men to ever try and turn evidence against Sōsuke Aizen, who up and disappeared seven years ago without a trace along with his brother in law, who was Aizen's partner and the only person who knows what the man looks like and how to bring him down, and Aizen's only family left."

"You realize this means that the reason they disappeared was probably because Aizen had his son?" Ikkaku said, looking at the boy who was still sedated.

"Shit, you're right. Seven years? With that sick fuck?" Zaraki said with a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose thoughtfully. "Old man say if I can have Yachiru come join us?"

Ikkaku nodded. "Already sent for her. She's going to meet us when we get there. She's beside herself to see her big brother."

Zaraki sighed. "Be good to see the brat. Maybe she can help me with this one, too damn old to deal with this," he muttered.

"Zaraki, you aren't that old. You turned twenty six this year," came Unohana's voice from the doorway.

"Well I fuckin' feel like ninety after this goddamned case," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

"I would hope so," said another voice. He looked up to see someone that he really hadn't wanted to see today of all days. "You've been three years working it; at least it yielded some fruit, if not the one we were hoping for."

Zaraki sighed and looked up. "Byakuya," he said to the stoic man. "I did what I could. I had the opportunity to rescue the vics so I took it. I just wish I knew what the hell was going on with this kid."

"He's not so much a 'kid' anymore, maybe when he was kidnapped seven years ago, but you realize he's twenty three now," the dark haired man said, moving over toward where he lay. "He's smaller than normal, obviously from lack of nutrition. He's what, five eight?"

"Five nine," Unohana said, looking over his chart. "But he's far underweight for his age and height. And we honestly do not know what he's gone through other than what we see on the surface; he hasn't said a word since Zaraki came into contact with him."

Byakuya sighed. "Alright, prepare the transport, perhaps you should leave him sedated until we get him to the Seireitei. I really don't want him flipping out on the drivers. Zaraki, your sister is already installed at Seireitei and decorating her room. You know the layout. So far, it will be you, your sister, and the rotating guards. Remember, don't lose the keycard or you can't get into the facility."

With that Byakuya turned and left. Zaraki growled. "I hate that man."

"Yes, Zaraki, you always have. Now, anything I should know about you? Been six months since you went in deep undercover this time. Any new injuries?" Unohana asked, pulling out a clipboard.

"Yeah, got a few more for ya, and this pretty," he said sticking out his tongue showing off the tongue piercing that had a black ball with a skull etched in white on it. "Think I'll keep it, what do you think?" he said with a shrug. She shook her head. He grinned at her and detailed all his injuries to her.

Soon, they came and transported the unconscious boy to the new house. He went along on the ambulance transport. Great. What was supposed to be a simple thing had turned into something horribly complex.

As soon as he entered the windowless room he was leaped upon by a pink haired whirlwind. "Oh my god, I thought you were never coming back, Kenny!" she squealed.

"Ah, come on, I always come back. Now, did they tell you why we were here?" he asked the fifteen year old spitfire that he'd raised since she was two.

He may have been thirteen at the time, but without parents, he'd had no choice. Taking care of Yachiru is why he felt so old some days. At thirteen he'd started with the gangs, making money hand over fist as an enforcer because at thirteen he could take on just about anyone in a fight. He was already six foot tall at that point. But he'd taken care of his sister. And when the Old Man came to him and offered him legal work, he'd taken that at sixteen. And since then, he'd done a lot of things, both legal and illegal in the service of the shinigami. He didn't care, as long as Yachiru was taken care of, and as long as his "aunt" was fine, he was happy. He called her his aunt, but she wasn't really related to them. Isane was a dear friend who wasn't much older than he was but who had helped them out a lot along the years and adored taking care of Yachiru when Zaraki was gone for a while. It helped that her little sister was about Yachiru's age.

"Yeah, you gotta protect the guy you brought out," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, you got it brat. He's a little messed up, okay, so you gotta be nice to him, okay? Help him feel better if you can," he said with a nod. "And he's a little clingy on me, since I got him out, so don't get jealous."

"That's okay Kenny. As long as you're okay with it, I don't care. I got plenty to do. So why's he asleep? They brought him in on a bed a while ago," she said, looking toward the door where he had been placed.

"He's a little nervous and scared, so we wanted to keep him asleep for the trip. But he's gonna be waking up soon, they took him off the medicine to make him sleep, so we should go in there and be there when he wakes up so he's not too scared and alone," he said with a nod toward the room.

Yachiru nodded and ran off and opened the door, to be followed by Zaraki who sat down in the chair beside the bed. It was comfortably furnished, at least, if windowless. These places were always strange, a house built inside a warehouse, basically. Windowless and locked down tighter than a drum. Finally, the kid seemed to be coming around. Zaraki leaned over, brushing his own spiky black hair out of his face. Yachiru was perched at the foot of the bed and waited. It looked like they'd removed all the piercings from his ears and face from what he could tell, at least for the time being. He was assuming they'd ask him if he wanted to keep any of them. For all Zaraki knew, he'd want to keep some of the piercings. He was keeping the tongue ring, after all.

His waking wasn't a subtle thing. One moment he was asleep the next he was wide awake and clutching at the sheets on the bed and looking around frantically to see where he was.

"Hey, settle down," Zaraki said and the boy turned and fixed his wild brown eyes on him and then he was scrambling off the bed and into the chair with Zaraki. Zaraki frowned and let himself be clutched. He put a hand on his back, now clad in a set of blue pajamas and let him pant harshly against him. "Okay, okay, you're fine, you're fine. It's okay, Ichigo."

As soon as he said his name, the boy sat back and stared at him with wide eyes again, and Zaraki realized tears were gathering at the corners of them quickly. Oh, shit, he thought, what'd he do wrong? He stared for a minute and then tipped his head to the side and whispered, "Ich…Ichi…go…" and Zaraki realized he probably hadn't heard his name very often in the seven years he'd been gone. "I…Ichi…go…" he said, his breath heaving.

"Oh god," Zaraki said softly. "You haven't been called by your name much since they took you, have you?"

His tears spilled over and he took a shuddering breath and buried his face in his shirt again. Zaraki felt the spreading wetness and just rubbed his back slowly and Yachiru watched, her face twisted into a look of sorrow and confusion.

"He was kidnapped seven years ago," Zaraki explained quietly as he could. "He would have been not much older than you. They've had him ever since…"

Finally, he sat back and rubbed his eyes but didn't move to get away from Zaraki at all; he sat there, on his lap staring at the wet blotches on Zaraki's shirt and then touched them gently. Zaraki kept his hands on his hips to keep him from sliding backward onto the floor. He looked up suddenly. "Sorry," he said, his voice hoarse and obviously not having been used often. "Sorry…sorry…" he muttered, shaking his head. "Sorry sorry…"

Zaraki sighed and moved one hand to his head to stop him from shaking his head. "Hey, stop, okay, you're free now. We got you out and we're in a safe house, safe from them, and no one here will hurt you, okay?"

He stared at Zaraki for a long time. "Now, this is your bed, and your room, and no one can come in here without your say so, okay? Of course, unless you are hurt or sick, or something. And you can do whatever you want as long as you stay here because we don't want them to take you back."

He shuddered at the words and shook his head suddenly. Zaraki nodded. "Nnoitra isn't going to come here. He's not going to get to you. He doesn't know where you are."

Ichigo nodded slowly but then realized that there was someone else in the room and he clenched his fists into Zaraki's shirt and pulled himself against him as he turned his head to stare at the other presence. "Ichigo, this is Yachiru, my little sister," he said. "I take care of her, have for a long time, thirteen years, now," he said. "She's going to be here with us."

He swallowed and looked between them before he closed his eyes and ducked his head into Zaraki's shirt again. Zaraki sighed. "This is a safe place for you?" he asked gently, trying to keep the natural growl out of his voice. He remembered vaguely in dealing with victims about helping them find their safe place. Wonderful. Apparently his safe place was in Zaraki's lap.

"Okay, safe place, when you need it," he said, recalling his various training meetings on dealing with victims of human trafficking rings. He should know it by now, he'd only busted three so far. But he was never one on one with the victims; that was Yumichika's part. He was the trained rape/trauma counselor.

"Listen, seven years is a long time, and we're going to have to know what happened during that time," he said finally.

He hated to bring it up. They would have to know; otherwise they could never deal with what he'd gone through. All they knew was that seven years ago the vibrant and popular teenage boy named Ichigo Kurosaki had disappeared during his sister's soccer game. His friends reported that a blue haired man had drug him into a black windowless van without plates. He fought him, but an accomplice had a syringe and stabbed the boy in the neck. His friends had watched as the fight went out of him immediately. No one reached him in time, and he was gone before his father even knew something was wrong.

Since that day, the boy hadn't been seen. Less than a week afterward, Isshin Kurosaki, his twin sisters Karin and Yuzu, and his uncle Kisuke Urahara disappeared. Kisuke Urahara had been Sōsuke Aizen's half-brother, and Isshin had been the illegitimate half-brother of Kisuke Urahara, sharing his mother. Kurosaki and Urahara had been about to turn evidence on Aizen, head of the Espada organization, a then small cartel that ran every kind of illegal enterprise that existed. The case had fallen apart, and since then, Aizen had been untouchable, as had all ten of his Espada that ran the cartel.

The strike at Nnoitra's human trafficking branch had been purposeful to put a dent on their income flow. The human trafficking brought in more money than all the other branches combined, and if they could stop it, even for a short time, the other branches would suffer.

Now, though, the Shinigami had Isshin's son. So the question was, where were the Kurosakis and how could they get the word to them that they had rescued his son? And after seven years of captivity and who knew what kind of torture and conditioning, would he ever really get his son back?


	2. Forgetting to Remember

**On Blade's Edge**

* * *

**Chapter Two**

_Forgetting to Remember_

* * *

_Present_

_Sunday, May 18, 2014, late evening_

_Seireitei Safe-House_

The first night was rough to say the least. The rest of the day had consisted of attempting to get him to eat and stop being so damn jumpy about everything. He refused to sleep and kept looking around as though he expected to be ripped away by someone at any moment. He absolutely refused to leave the room, which was no surprise, but more than that he almost descended into panic if the door opened at all, and Zaraki couldn't leave his side. Thankfully, these rooms were equipped with in room bathrooms. Finally, Ichigo ended up passing out sitting in Zaraki's lap. Luckily, the chair beside the bed was a recliner, so it wasn't so terribly bad. He seemed to not want to lie down at all in a bed. Zaraki's first attempt to lay the recliner all the way back had ended with him panicking and Zaraki found he had to leave it at least halfway up.

So it was that Zaraki ended up sleeping sitting up in the chair beside the boy's bed. There wasn't much else to be done about it; he simply wouldn't let him leave, even once he fell asleep he clutched him tightly. He could have forced him to let go, but Retsu had warned him that his ribs needed to heal, and the way he clutched him, there was no safe way to do it. So he'd fallen asleep there, with the blue pajama clad kid sitting in his lap and head buried in his shoulder. What he couldn't imagine was the horrors that played out in his mind that night.

_Flashback_

_Saturday, June 23, 2007_

_Karakura Town, Japan _

It was sunny, brilliantly bright, actually in Karakura Town that day. Ichigo stood with his friends Tatsuki, Inoue, Ishida and Sado. Some of their other friends hadn't been able to come to the big soccer game. It was the finals, and if his sister's team won, they'd take the area championship. He clapped and cheered for her and glanced now and then over to the stands nearby where his idiot father and eccentric uncle sat with his other sister, Yuzu. It was summer, and in a couple weeks, he'd turn eighteen. All in all, it was a great day. Everyone was dressed in casual summer attire, and it was a greatly relaxed atmosphere.

"Karin, don't let them get past you like that!" he yelled through the chain link fence as a pass got past his sister. There was a sheen of sweat on her, and her short cropped black hair was clinging to her face. She turned and glared at him and he shrugged at her.

Tatsuki clapped him on the back. "She's gotten good, Ichigo."

"I know!" he said and turned to smile at his friends.

"So is that crazy uncle of yours gonna be staying with you now?" Tatsuki asked, sipping her can of juice and glancing at the odd man in the green and white striped bucket hat. Her black hair was cut shorter than Karin's and to be honest, if someone didn't know better, they might mistake her for a boy with her looks and attitude.

Ichigo shook his head. "Yeah, looks that way. Never knew that my mom had such a nutter for a brother," he said shaking his hands and shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"He seems nice, Kurosaki-kun," Inoue said with a blush across her face. Ichigo nodded and shifted a bit uncomfortably. Why did she always do that around him? She was best friends with Tatsuki, which was fine and all, but it seemed that every time she was around him she was blushing or batting her eyelashes at him. Then she'd do that hair sweep thing with her long, strawberry blonde hair. He really didn't want to burst her bubble, but he just wasn't into girls. Of course, no one knew that, not even his father. He wasn't sure he was even ready to say that out loud.

He shrugged. "I mean, he's nice, but he's crazy, man, I mean, I was up getting a snack last night and he was in the kitchen experimenting on rice balls. No idea. Just kind of strange. And I still don't know why he turned up all of a sudden…"

Ishida piped up. "Maybe he's on the run from someone," he said with a shrug.

Uryuu was one of their newer friends, and despite Ichigo's initial suspicion that he was gay; lately he'd been seeing the way he looked at Orihime. He was secretly chanting to him to ask her out already so she'd leave him alone to figure things out. They were a good match, he thought. Of course, considering how often Orihime's attention was on him instead of anyone else, he doubted she'd ever date anyone with him around. He'd just have to suck it up and tell her that girls were _not_ his thing.

Beside him, leaning on the fence was their last friend, Sado, or Chad as Ichigo called him. Chad was huge, that was the only way to put it, and he was certainly imposing. He hardly talked. The large Hispanic boy was always at Ichigo's side though.

Ichigo shook his head. "No idea. If he's running from anyone, I've got a feeling it is something entirely in his head and not real. Oh well, I'm going to get a juice, anyone want one?"

Inoue colored again and smiled shyly. "I'll take one, Kurosaki-kun!" she said quietly.

He nodded and sauntered off toward the juice machine. He didn't notice the dark van that had pulled up in the parking lot behind the set of vending machines he was standing at. There wasn't anything unusual about the two guys standing in line behind him, either, in fact, he barely noticed them. He bent down and grabbed the two cans and that was when he realized something was very wrong.

The first, a tall man with bright blue hair lunged forward and grabbed him around the neck. He started to struggle and managed to pull the guy off and land a blow across his jaw when he flipped around. "The fuck!" he yelled then as something hit him on the back of the head, making him see stars. Vaguely he heard someone yelling at him and then the other guy, wait where'd he come from? He hadn't seen another guy, just the blue haired guy. This guy had bright green eyes that stood out as much as the other guy's blue hair. The other guy jammed something into his neck and the world faded to black.

Ichigo came to consciousness slowly, like swimming upward through a pool of thick, sticky glue or something. He swallowed a lump in his throat and tried to move to stretch his limbs, but he couldn't move any of them. His eyes fluttered open and he found himself lying on the ground. No, not the ground, it was a floor. The floor was hardwood, dark grain, he noted. Why was he face down on such a fancy floor?

"He's up, boss," came a voice he didn't know.

"Pick him up, let me see him," he heard another man, and he was lifted in a mind whirling trip to somewhat stand on his feet. He stared down and realized he couldn't stand, his ankles were bound to each other with rope, and obviously his wrists were tied behind him as well.

He lifted his head up and found himself staring at a man with brown hair, thin rimmed glasses and a white suit with a red tie. He blinked away the fuzziness and wondered just who the hell it was. He'd never seen the guy before and for some reason he'd been kidnapped by these guys. Great. Just wonderful. How the hell was he going to get out of this? These guys were professionals, not just the street thugs he was used to fighting with Chad at his back.

"He looks a bit like his cousin. And his mother. A shame about both of them, you know. I actually rather liked Kaien up until the point I put a knife to his throat. And your mother was quite a pleasant lady. Shame indeed," the brown haired man said. "I'm Sōsuke Aizen, and you're mine now."

Ichigo frowned and only then realized he was gagged. A heavy cloth was tied around his mouth. His eyes bulged at the words and he shook his head, muttering obscenities through the gag. He had no idea who the hell this guy was. He had no clue what he was doing in front of him.

"Yes, my sweet boy, you belong to me. I've decided that I'm not taking any chances with your father and uncle. They dare to think they can turn on me? No, I have you now. They won't take the chance I'll send you back in pieces. I had no problems murdering Kaien. I have no qualms about murdering another family member. For now, you're going downstairs and spending some time in the cellar. Smile, princess," he said, snapping a picture of the bound boy on his phone.

Ichigo struggled as the blue haired man that had kidnapped him and his dark skinned companion drug him down a set of stairs and tossed him into a metal cage. He was left there; bound and gagged for long enough that he was sure they'd forgotten he was even there. He was certain he was going to end up pissing himself if someone didn't let him up soon. Eventually, the door up the stairs opened and a freakishly tall and thin man with black hair came down the stairs and grinned at him. He had beady black eyes that reminded Ichigo distinctly of a rat. His smile was way too wide and very creepy.

"Hey there baby boy, how are you?" he said, kneeling down in front of the cage. "I'm gonna let you out of those ropes, so roll over here and I'll cut off the ones on your wrists, baby boy."

Ichigo was wary but didn't have much choice, he rolled onto his belly and over onto his side again and scooted his back against the bars. He felt the cool metal of a knife against the flesh on his hands and he stiffened. There was another moment and then the ropes were cut and he was pulling himself to the middle of the cell and yanking the gag out of his mouth.

"Who are you?" he asked, working the stiffness out of his jaw and grimacing as his bladder reminded him that he really needed to relieve it.

"Name's Nnoitra, baby boy. And I'm gonna get to take you home soon with me," he said, his grin widening.

Ichigo shook his head and untied his ankles with shaking hands. He scooted back against a low cot that sat along the side. The cell was just long enough front to back to fit the five foot cot. It was about a foot wide, and there was maybe another three feet in width to it. The bars on the top were about five foot high, so even Ichigo who wasn't much over five six would have to bend down in it.

"What do you mean?" he said, eyes wide and looking around. There were other cells down here he realized. Lots of them in fact. All were empty except the one he occupied.

"See, I sell precious merchandise. But you, you're too precious to sell. I specialize in taking care of fragile merchandise like you, baby boy, and I'll take real good care of you," he said, long tongue snaking out and licking his lips.

Ichigo felt a shiver go down his spine. "M-merchandise?" he asked, wincing as the pain in his bladder seemed to spike along with the fear he suddenly felt.

"Don't you have to piss, baby boy?" Nnoitra asked, walking around the cage and gesturing to the bucket that was set in the corner. "You probably should. Don't want you getting some sort of nasty infection. Aizen isn't took keen on the medical care."

Ichigo swallowed. Like he was going to go to the bathroom in front of this perverted bastard. He simply stared at him.

"Okay, but if you piss yourself, you won't get any clean clothes. And we can't have you in pissy clothes, so you'll just have to sit there naked after we take the dirty ones," he said. "Boss doesn't want you getting messed up too bad…yet. Gotta make sure your pop and the fucking uncle goes and disappears properly."

Ichigo's face flushed red and he swallowed, glancing at the bucket. This was so undignified.

He stood up slowly on wobbly feet and moved toward the bucket and then looked up to see that this Nnoitra was staring at him intently. He frowned. "Do you mind?" he asked.

Nnoitra grinned at him. "Nope, go ahead, baby boy."

Ichigo didn't have much choice. He was going to piss himself if he didn't go soon, and he really didn't want to be stuck without any clothes. He didn't doubt this bastard would take the chance to strip him…and who knows what else he'd do when he did it. So he closed his eyes, trying to imagine he was alone desperately while he relieved himself. He knew he'd never had to piss so bad in his entire life. Finally, he opened his eyes and zipped his pants back up and moved to sit on the cot. Before he could, Nnoitra's long fingered hand shot through the bars and grabbed him by the bicep.

"Enjoy your time alone, baby boy. Once your pop and uncle are off the scene, you're gonna come with me. If you find it embarrassing to piss in front of me, you're in for a surprise. You have no idea the kind of things I'm going to do to you. By the time I'm done, you won't fucking remember your own goddamned name," he said with a hiss then let go and grinned. "Bye bye, baby boy, love and kisses."

Ichigo rubbed his arm and sat down dully on the cot. Just what the hell did that mean anyway? He bit his lip and shuddered. He sat against the bars and pulled his knees into his chest and waited. A few hours later, a silvery haired man came down and slid a plate of a couple rice balls and a cup of water through the slot at the bottom of the doorway. Ichigo wanted to ignore him, but he was starving. He took it and sat back down, eating slowly and trying to calm his stomach. The strange man didn't say anything, only grinned at him.

_Sunday, June 24__th__, 2007 – 8:00 am_

He slept through exhaustion and was woken the next morning to the sound of a woman screaming. He jerked awake and sat up and saw they were dragging a petite young woman, maybe twenty he thought, with short dark hair and bright violet eyes down the stairs. She was tiny, though, and screaming her head off at the blue haired man that was manhandling her. She was bound in the same way he had been but without a gag. He watched as they tossed her in the cell next to him. The blue haired man shook his head and left without even saying anything.

Ichigo looked over to the girl. She was wearing a pair of black slacks and a pink polo shirt with the logo of a local ice cream shop on it. She turned and looked at him. "What's happening?" she asked.

Ichigo shook his head. "I'm not sure, but here, scoot over to the bars, I'll untie you," he said, dropping down to the floor and reaching through the side opposite his cot and undoing her hands. "What's your name?"

"Rukia Kuchiki. You?" she asked, rubbing her wrists then untying her ankles.

"Ichigo Kurosaki. They got me yesterday from my little sister's soccer game. Some guy named Aizen?" he said.

He heard the other person gasp and she turned and fixed her violet eyes on him. "Aizen? You said Aizen?"

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, something about my dad and my uncle. I'm not sure…" he was interrupted by the banging of the door and his least favorite person currently carrying two trays with him. Nnoitra was whistling and slid a tray under each door.

"Hi there, babies," he said with a grin and crossed his arms and appraised them.

"Nnoitra Gilga," Rukia hissed and stood up against the bars and glared at him.

"Oh, little sister knows things, does she?" he said with a grin. "Don't worry that pretty little head, sugar. I'm not interested in you. I've chosen my little boy already," he said and leered at Ichigo through the bars. Ichigo swallowed and saw the look the short girl next to him shot his direction.

"Nnoitra, you sick…sick…man!" she said. "What does Aizen want with us?"

"Well, you, sweetheart, have a nosy fucking brother. And he's got the worst luck to be the nephew of Kisuke Urahara," he said with a snarl.

Rukia's eyes went wide. "What? You're Urahara's nephew?" she gasped at Ichigo.

Ichigo looked between them. "What does that crazy bastard have to do with this?" he asked.

"You don't know?" Rukia asked, moving to stand against the bars on his side of her cell. "You don't know who he is and who Aizen is?"

Ichigo shook his head. "I don't know what's going on! My crazy ass uncle showed up a week ago at our house, and I didn't even know I had an uncle!"

Rukia sighed. "Aizen's built a cartel, right under his half-brother and business partner's nose, and his partner was Kisuke Urahara. They built the pharmaceutical giant, Kyōka Suigetsu, you know, where you get all your prescriptions from. Urahara is a scientist, and he wanted to help the world by making new medicines, and Aizen eventually wanted him to make designer drugs. He refused, saying that they got into business together to help people. Urahara had no idea what Aizen was doing while he was locked up in his lab with his experiments. When he found out, he fled with enough evidence to put a stop to everything. He wasn't happy with what had happened. Aizen had been using Urahara's money, experiments and research to fund his organization…"

"And the boss wants to make sure he doesn't keep his promise to turn over on him to her big brother," Nnoitra said, coming to stand in front of Ichigo's cell again, staring at him in that disconcerting way again.

"Leave him alone, Nnoitra, he's a kid!" Rukia yelled, her face reddening in anger.

Nnoitra snickered. "I don't mind. He'll find out soon enough, won't you baby boy?" he said and lapped his tongue against his lips again.

Ichigo moved back against the back side of the cell again and stared at him. "L-leave me alone," he said, another shudder wracking his body.

"I will, baby boy. I will. For now. But once boss man comes and tells me you're all mine, you're all mine, my sweet baby boy. And you will be my special boy, in every way I can imagine. And I've got a hella imagination…" he said and turned and left, leaving Ichigo to slide down the bars to the floor. He pulled his knees into his chest again.

"Ichigo, don't let him get to you," Rukia said from beside him. "He won't give you over to him, surely, what purpose would it serve?"

Ichigo shook his head and hoped she was right. Those beady black eyes were something he didn't like, and that leering grin left him cold inside. He had little doubt the man would follow through on those threats. But Rukia said it. Aizen had him because he wanted his dad and Urahara to do what he wanted. So that meant he had to be kept healthy and unhurt, otherwise, his dad and Uncle Kisuke wouldn't listen. He nodded to himself and knew that had to be right.

_Tuesday, August 14__th__, 2007_

Ichigo was wrong, though, very wrong, and he soon found out exactly how wrong he was. Judging by the meals, it had been almost seven weeks when Aizen himself came down the stairs. The room had filled up since Ichigo and Rukia had come into it. In fact, it seemed that all twelve of the small cells were full now. Ichigo and Rukia were on the right side, followed by a blond girl named Menoly, a dark haired girl named Loly, a blonde boy named Tesla, and a redheaded man named Renji that knew Rukia. On the other side, there were the other six. There was a slight young man named Hanataro, another short but loud dark haired boy named Ggio, a tall blonde named Findorr, a young blonde boy named Di Roy, a short boy with pure white hair named Toshiro that didn't really talk much, and finally in the last cell across from Ichigo was a dark haired guy named Shuuhei.

All twelve of them were being kept for some reason, and none of them had a lot of information. Some of them, like Rukia, Renji, Toshiro, Hanataro, and Shuuhei were all connected to law enforcement, political figures, in other words, mostly relatives of prominent people. Some of the others, like Ggio, Tesla, Findorr, Loly and Menoly were witnesses to gang activity. No one had quite figured out why Di Roy was there, and for some reason, he didn't seem to care, claiming he had food and a bed, so he was quite happy. Granted, the beds weren't much, and the food mostly consisted of rice balls, water and occasional unidentified meat.

Aizen sauntered down the rows. "Seems we've reached capacity," he said, and Ichigo saw the blue haired one, Grimmjow was his name he'd found out, was following him, as was Nnoitra and an older darker skinned man with perfectly coifed white hair. "Take your pick, Barragan, Grimmjow, Nnoitra. The ones with the star on the door are free for you to have if you want them. Otherwise, I'm having Ulquiorra execute them in the morning." Ichigo stood up and stared, seeing that all those that were witnesses and Di Roy had a star marked on the front of the cell in marker. When had that happened, he thought…?

Barragan approached Ggio and spoke to him for a while, while Nnoitra spoke through the bars to Tesla. Grimmjow went over to Di Roy and smirked when Di Roy said something a few moments later. He opened the door and let him out and led him up the stairs. Barragan let Ggio out and then talked to Findorr for a minute, then took him off up the stairs as well. Nnoitra let Tesla out and headed up the stairs with him. A few moments later Barragan came back down and went to Loly and then Menoly's cells, each one let out and following him out of the basement. The two girls looked somewhat frightened of the old man, which was strange because he didn't seem imposing at all to Ichigo.

Aizen then turned to those that remained. "Now, my, aren't you a nice, quiet bunch?"

The door opened and closed and the dark haired man with very pale skin and bright green eyes that had helped kidnap Ichigo came down and stood beside Aizen. Soon, a tall and quite buxom blonde woman came down and stood beside Aizen. Aizen turned to the woman.

"Harribel, have you received the payment for Mr. Hitsugaya and Mr. Hisagi?" he asked.

"We have sir," she said with a nod. "We have also confirmed that Kuchiki has been dropped from the Las Noches case, and Urahara has disappeared off the grid along with the Kurosakis."

Ichigo's hands tightened around the bars at the mention of his family but he didn't say anything. More than once he'd had his knuckles wacked for speaking. It was like being in elementary. He supposed they had to be kept intact since they were being used as leverage over their families, though. Beating them to death wouldn't keep their families in line.

"Good, good. Ulquiorra, please take Zommari and Grimmjow, deliver Mr. Hitsugaya and Mr. Hisagi to their families at the appointed time tonight. Harribel, if you would take Mr. Abarai and Ms. Kuchiki and deposit them on her brother's doorstep tied up nicely. Perhaps next time he decides to get into my affairs he'll remember vividly about what I can do with his lover and his sister," he said with a smirk.

Rukia glanced at Ichigo and down at Hanataro as Aizen turned to leave. "What about them?" she called.

Aizen turned back and glanced at the two he hadn't mentioned. "Ah yes, Kurosaki. And the Yamada child. Return the Yamada boy, as well, Ulquiorra. We're going to clear out of this building in the morning. As far Kurosaki…" Aizen paused.

Ulquiorra looked up. "Did you not promise to give him to Nnoitra when you confirmed his family was off grid?"

Aizen smiled. "Ah yes, that's right. I forgot. Poor Nnoitra, I believe he must have believed I forgot that promise…have him retrieve the boy."

"What, you can't do that! Let him go too!" Rukia screamed. Aizen turned and grinned.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, his uncle knows far too much, and I'm a bit sentimental, so I just can't bring myself to murder my half-brother and very best friend growing up. So as long as I have him," he said, gesturing to Ichigo's frozen form. "I have nothing to fear from my half-brother."

"You can't give him to Nnoitra! You…you know…!" she was already starting to cry.

Aizen smiled. "He'll hurt him? I'm certain of it. He won't kill him, I told him that was all I cared about. He has to be alive. Now, what shape he's in, that doesn't matter. I'm certain Nnoitra will have less of a problem…ah…fucking his merchandise if he has a permanent playmate. He does have a tendency to cost me money by damaging the goods he's supposed to sell…so this is the best solution."

Aizen turned and headed up the stairs again, leaving a silence on the room. Rukia grabbed the bars. "Ichigo, I'll get my brother to help you, I promise, I will! He's a cop, he's…"

The door opened then and Nnoitra practically skipped down the stairs. "Oh, boy, I thought the boss forgot," he said happily, and Ichigo's eyes went wide to see that he had a collar in his hands and a chain. "But no, he remembered, thanks Ulquiorra!"

Ichigo moved as far back into the cell as he could get, swallowing against the rising bile in his throat. This was not going to happen. No way, no how. He shook his head. "No, get back!" he said in a low voice.

Nnoitra opened the door. "You're gonna be a good baby boy and let me put this on you and then you're going to follow me like the good little boy you are."

Ichigo was not going to take this easily. He reached into the waistband of his pants and pulled out a shiv he'd made. A few weeks before, he'd managed to sliver off a small piece of the wooden leg of the cot. It wasn't much, but he figured that if he could use it to stab whoever opened the cell in the eye or throat he could get past them and maybe, just maybe, get out the door. His fingers gripped the piece of wood. Honestly, he doubted his sanity at this idea. It wasn't a terrible lot more than a big splinter. Still, he had to try, even if it earned him a real beating. If he didn't escape, he was pretty damn sure a beating was going to be the least of his worries.

When Nnoitra had come in far enough he lunged forward with as much strength as he could muster and drove the piece of wood into his left eye as far as he could. If he could lodge it deep enough, it would kill him. He wasn't sure that it wouldn't just break first. Nnoitra screamed and blood sputtered everywhere. Ichigo gasped and dropped to his knees and scurried under the man struggling with the wood embedded in his eye and was out the door and to the bottom of the stairs in a second. He sobbed out loud when the door opened and he was looking up at Grimmjow who was frowning deeply, obviously summoned by the yelling. Ichigo sucked in a breath and felt something heavy hit the back of his head. He dropped to his knees, the world wavering sickly in front of his eyes.

"Fucking bastard!" screamed Nnoitra's voice behind him. Grimmjow laughed at the top of the stairs.

"Well, he got you before you got him, Gilga," Grimmjow commented.

"Fuck you, Grimmjow, shit, I think the fucker put out my goddamned eye! Go get fucking Szayel!" he yelled. Grimmjow, still laughing, left. Ichigo felt something clamp tightly around his neck, making him feel even more lightheaded than he already was. His hands were yanked behind him and he felt the roughness of ropes tightening around his wrists. He swayed a bit and fell forward with Nnoitra pushed him, and then yelled when he landed a blow in his ribcage with his foot.

The world was hazy by he saw someone with pink hair come down the stair. "Dammit, Nnoi, fuck, yeah, eye's done, man, sorry."

"Fuck!" Nnoitra screamed and yanked Ichigo up from the floor by the collar. "Look at this you little fucker," he said, pointing to the mangled remains of his eye. "You're gonna pay for this. A lot. To think, I was gonna be nice to ya, mostly. Now you went and fucked up, you little fuckin' bastard. You are going to fuckin' live in pain for this shit. I can't kill you, but I can fuckin' make you wish you were dead with every breath you take!" Ichigo swallowed, the world fading out from lack of oxygen and the head wound. He hoped that he was dying. He wasn't.

When Ichigo woke next, he was in pain. Of course he was in pain, what did he expect? He knew it was risky, maybe he should have gone for the guy's throat instead of his eye…but it wouldn't have mattered. There were too many of them. He let the world come into focus and he realized he was on something softer than the floor, which was probably a good thing, because it felt like Nnoitra had beaten his body while he was unconscious. There was a dull throbbing in his sides and his head was on fire. He groaned and moved a little, and realized he was bound up tighter than he had been. He looked up and saw a chain leading from the collar on his neck to something…a ring, a big metal ring in…a headboard. He was on a bed.

Oh shit, he thought to himself, turning his head from side to side. He was on a bed. Nnoitra's threats all came back at once. He struggled but he couldn't get his hands free. He realized his hands were bound to his thighs. There was some sort of band across the top of each thigh, like a belt, and somehow his wrists were connected to the side of each one. It felt like there was a cuff or something on each of his wrists and on his ankles too. He was lying on his stomach and felt like his left ankle at least was secured to something, but he couldn't see since there was a sheet lying over him. He was close to freaking out until he heard a door open and close and his breath caught.

"Ah, my pretty baby boy," came Nnoitra's voice. Ichigo turned his head and saw that he had a bandage taped in place over his left eye. "You are going to be punished, baby. So much. And I'm going to enjoy every second of it."

"P-please, don't….I…I'm sorry…I didn't…" Ichigo stammered as the sheet was yanked off of his body. He had felt he must be naked under it and now he was sure of it. He bit down on his lip. Strength, he told himself. He could get through this. It was only pain. Right?

He was terribly, horribly wrong. He heard something and then jerked as a sharp pain lanced through his back. It whistled as it went through the air and hit his back again. His breathing sped up. Nnoitra moved around where he could see him and Ichigo could see he had a horse riding crop in his hand. Ichigo shook his head and struggled against the bonds holding his hands in place to no avail.

"Tsk, tsk, baby you are such a bad boy. I can't reward you until I punish you," he said and laid into his back, buttocks, and the back of his thighs until Ichigo couldn't take it and screamed, sobbing into the bed, tears soaking the sheets. He begged him to stop, telling him he'd do anything if he'd just stop.

He felt Nnoitra's hands in his hair and then his head was yanked painfully upward against the chain. "Don't fucking cry."

Ichigo tried desperately to control it, but he couldn't and then Nnoitra was laying burning swats across the back of his arms and his calves. "I'm sorry! Sorry!" he gasped out, finally.

Nnoitra grinned and laid down the crop. "Good. Always be sorry for fucking tears. They're useless and only make me angry, you little bitch. You deserve this, every goddamned ounce of pain I give you, you will accept and fucking thank me for, do you understand?" he said, yanking his head up by the hair again.

Ichigo swallowed and nodded. "Good, then what do you say, baby?"

Ichigo's mouth worked and he knew what he wanted and he didn't want to say it, but the pain on his neck and the burning across his body was pleading with him to do whatever it was he wanted. It was only words, right? Just saying what the sadistic fucker wanted wouldn't hurt. How could it?

"Th-thank…you…" he whispered, panting against the rising lightheadedness that was overcoming him from the awkward position.

"Good start, baby," he said and dropped his head. Ichigo laid there panting and then felt the bed move as Nnoitra sat down beside him. He crossed his lanky legs and pulled out a cigarette and took a long drag.

Ichigo was quiet despite the fact he was in more pain than he remembered being in ever before. Even when he'd gotten into fights, he didn't remember hurting this much in so many places. He almost let out a sob again but it came out a low whimper. Nnoitra turned to him and patted him on the head.

"There now, was that so bad? I'm sure you thought it was. But this is just the beginning. I'm not near done punishing you for this," he said, pointing to the bandaged eye. "No, not nearly done."

Ichigo wasn't sure how much of this he could stand without losing his damn mind. Then Nnoitra got up and rummaged in a draw he couldn't see and then came back to the bed holding something that looked like a plastic gun. Ichigo blinked and realized it was a piercing gun. Nnoitra looked it over.

"New hobby of mine," he said, and gestured to the several rings in his ear. "So let's have some fun."

Nnoitra sat back a few minutes later after putting six rings up the outside of Ichigo's left ear. Ichigo was not keen on this because it hurt and now his ear felt like it was on fire. Nnoitra smiled. "That's a good start. Now, for the eyebrow…" he said, reaching over and pulling out a curved needle.

"What…no, stop!" he started to pull his head away but there was a clink and the chain on his throat pulled tight leaving him gasping.

"Stay still, or I might put your eye out to match mine," Nnoitra said with a smirk.

What felt like an eternity passed and finally Nnoitra was putting away his stuff. Ichigo had blood dripping down the left side of his face now from the four rings he'd put across his brow. It hurt too. Ichigo wasn't sure what hurt worse, the ear, his eyebrow, or the burning welts and cuts on his back.

Ichigo heard a clink and his foot was released. If he'd felt stronger he might have tried to kick the bastard. But no, he just laid there. Then, he gripped his hips and flipped him, but the chain on his collar was still secured at his throat, which twisted his head to the side with a whine of pain at the pressure on his neck. He was shoved upward so he could lay his head back flat now. His back was screaming in pain, leaving him panting as the sheets pulled against the torn flesh. However, now he was exposed completely to Nnoitra, hands still clamped to the bands on his thighs.

"You are too pretty, you know?" Nnoitra said, and ran a hand down from Ichigo's collar to the nest of orange between his legs. Ichigo jerked at the light touch, pressing his legs together.

"Nah, no hiding, pretty baby boy. Here, we'll fix that," Nnoitra said, and grabbed his ankles and pushed them upward until he heard and felt a click on the underside of his thigh. His eyes went wide and he looked to realize his hands were hooked to the outside of the thigh strap, and now his ankles had been hooked to another clamp on the strap. If he were sitting up instead of on his back, he would have been bound on his knees, seated on his heels.

"Much better," Nnoitra said, eyes roving over Ichigo's now fully exposed body.

"It hurts," he said finally, the muscles in his thighs and calves straining with the odd position. Nnoitra smiled and adjusted him so his feet were flat on the bed. It didn't help much.

"You'll get used to it, baby boy, promise," he said and leaned down and began licking at the inside of his thighs. Ichigo gasped at the sudden gentle and intimate contact.

"What…what…are you doing?" he said.

"It isn't any fun unless I make you come too, baby boy, sweet baby boy. Whether you want to or not," he said with a grin.

Ichigo couldn't go anywhere, he could barely move at all in the position he was in so when Nnoitra's wicked tongue began to wake his arousal, he could do nothing. He fought it, but Nnoitra was insistent, tongue following every dip and crevice of his body, all the way down to the entrance of his body. He jumped when Nnoitra's tongue swirled around the puckered entrance and then worked inside. He hummed against him and Ichigo's body jolted.

"Hmm, so sensitive," Nnoitra said with a smile.

"Please, no," he said, tears starting to fall again.

"What did I say about tears?" Nnoitra said, moving upward and leaning over him. Ichigo shook his head.

"I'm sorry, sorry, sorry!" he whimpered, but unable to stop completely.

Nnoitra reached a hand down and forced a finger inside him then. Ichigo's eyes widened and he stared up at him, tears still streaming from his eyes. Nnoitra shook his head and continued working his fingers into him until he was three deep and searching…aha, he thought as Ichigo's body lurched as he brushed the bundle of nerves he was looking for. He grinned and removed his fingers and slid his body up and pressed against him with his own weeping cock. He looked down to see that the orangette was still crying and muttering "sorry" every once in a while and he smiled to himself.

He forced his way in with one thrust, getting a pain filled scream out of him. Nnoitra felt something tear in his baby boy, but that was inevitable. He was a big man, after all, in more than one way. He grinned as he moved inside him slowly, making sure to brush his prostate when he could and feeling the boy's cock twitch despite the pain of him taking him so roughly.

"Shh, that's it baby boy," Nnoitra said, leaning forward to kiss and suck on his neck. "Just let go, let me take care of you, baby boy," he said. Ichigo whimpered and continued to cry and mutter apologies for crying to him. "That's it," Nnoitra said, and began to stroke Ichigo in time to his rough, deep thrusts. "You'll learn to love it, baby boy," he whispered into his left ear before biting down on the fresh piercings. "You'll love the pain I give you, and you'll thank me for it, and you'll want more of it," he said as he sped his way to his own completion.

Finally, he stroked enough to send Ichigo over the edge and he groaned with his own release into the bound body. He watched as Ichigo cried again, sobbing in sheer embarrassment, Nnoitra was sure. They never liked to be forced to cum like that. He smiled and reached over and grabbed a thick plug from the box at the side of the bed. He pulled his softening cock out and pushed in the plug quickly in its place.

"Oh, there you go, baby boy, now you can keep me with you," he said into his ear. He reached into the box again and wrapped a rope around his waist and then around between his legs and cinched it up against the plug he'd seated inside him. "And that will make sure it doesn't come out before I come back. Now, you'll lie here, until I return, sweet love. Be a good baby boy," he said, patting the inside of his thigh and leaving him bound. He cried until he fell asleep. He remembered Nnoitra's threat that he wouldn't remember his own name when he was done. He was now completely sure that he wasn't exaggerating at all.

_Present_

_Monday, May 19th, 2014, 6:00 am_

_Seireitei Safe-house_

Zaraki woke to screaming. He came awake with a start and found he no longer had a lap full of Ichigo. By the time everything had happened the day before, Ichigo had been exhausted and slept for more than twelve hours straight. Unfortunately, that had been on Zaraki's lap. Several times he'd tried to move him off to the bed but he'd end up crawling back into his lap. He supposed he needed safety. He leaped up to find him in the corner of the room, hands over his head and sobbing uncontrollably, muttering, "Sorry, sorry, sorry," as he rocked back and forth.

The larger man went over and kneeled beside him and touched his back. Ichigo started violently and backed further into the corner and panted harshly staring at him with wide, tearful eyes. Zaraki wasn't sure what exactly to do with him.

"Ichigo, are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" he asked softly, as though he'd been awoken by his little sister's scream in the night and not some twenty two year old boy that had spent seven years being tortured by a sexual sadist.

"Not…baby boy," he said softly, eyes wide.

Zaraki frowned and shook his head, not following what he meant. "No…"

"Not baby boy," he said, and looked down at his wrists, which were deeply red but missing the cuffs he'd been wearing. "No, not baby boy."

"Is that what he called you?" Zaraki said, understanding what had happened.

He looked up and stared at him. Zaraki smiled and nodded to him and smiled. "Come here, Ichigo, come here," he said gently. Despite his size, Zaraki had raised a little girl and she turned out fine. He knew how to handle scared children, and right now, he was nothing more than a scared child. He was a child, just like Yachiru, he told himself, pushing any other thoughts aside.

Ichigo gasped and buried his head in Zaraki's chest again, clinging to him. Zaraki picked him up easily enough and sat down on the bed with him, but Ichigo refused to remove his face from his chest. Zaraki just ran his hands over his back as he lay against him and sighed deeply. It was going to be a long road. Hell, it was going to be a fucking long week.

_Monday, May 19th, 2014, 9:00 am_

Zaraki felt someone shaking him awake and blinked to see Yachiru standing beside him. He looked at her with a smile. "Morning already?" he asked in a rough voice.

"Yeah, brother. I heard last night. He okay?" she asked, staring and the deeply sleeping body draped over Zaraki.

Zaraki shook his head. "I don't know, brat, I don't know."

Then, Ichigo lifted his head and looked up into Zaraki's face and blinked, yawning and squeaking when he did. Zaraki couldn't help it; he snickered when he did it. It was incredibly adorable and made Zaraki want to hug him even tighter. Ichigo blinked and looked at him and then laid his head back down on his chest.

"Want breakfast?" Kenpachi asked quietly to the top of the orange head.

He felt him nod and sigh against him. Zaraki frowned. This was certainly odd behavior considering what happened the night before. He didn't seem bothered by Yachiru anymore, and was extremely relaxed. Kenpachi looked at Yachiru who had noticed as well.

"Ichigo?" he asked and he looked up with wide brown eyes again and nodded, sliding off his lap and to the floor and watched them in utter silence. Kenpachi got up slowly and opened the door, and Ichigo followed him out down the hall to the dining room, limping somewhat with the awkward wrapping on his ankle. Kenpachi sat down and Ichigo sat beside him, miming everything he was doing.

"Ichigo, are you okay?" Kenpachi asked, looking at him. He shrugged.

Yumichika walked into the room and glanced at his boss. "Kenny, what's wrong?" he said, then glanced to the boy beside him who was just staring at him.

"I don't know, he woke up screaming last night and now this morning, he's just acting weird. Ichigo, do you remember yesterday?" he asked.

Ichigo looked up and shook his head and smiled at Kenpachi. He leaned forward and rested his head against Zaraki's arm. Yumichika moved closer.

"Ichigo, do you remember who you are?" he asked.

Ichigo shook his head and shrugged, sighing into Zaraki's arm in a contented fashion. Yumichika stood up straight. "Oh…we might have a problem."

Post traumatic amnesia was a possibility of course; however, that wasn't the case. Ichigo had simply decided to shut down for a little while. In his mind, though, there was a white demon that was screaming at him to stop it, screaming that he had to let the memories stay fluid. The white demon though was annoyed and tearing down the walls. Ichigo couldn't stop him, he knew that. This white demon was so very strong, and he would rip down every bit of his resistance, it was a simple given. However, he would try very hard to ignore what he was trying to do.

He was comfortable, leaning into Zaraki's strong body and not feeling pain for now. He could just shove the memories away and pretend they didn't exist. That was the best. Master was gone, master was gone, so he couldn't think about it. He wanted master, and his heart ached horribly because master was gone. Master had not come for him yet. They thought he was scared because he was afraid Nnoitra was going to come back for him. The truth was, Ichigo was scared that Nnoitra, master, wouldn't come back for him. To Ichigo's warped and twisted view of the world, that was almost a death sentence. He wouldn't survive without his master.

Because of that, he simply stopped thinking, talking, and just let everything go blank. If he did that, he didn't have to think about how master had abandoned him. He wouldn't have to think that this new master had stolen him. He wouldn't have to think at all. It was actually kind of nice for a change.


	3. Time's Silent Passage

**On Blade's Edge**

* * *

**Chapter Three**

_Time's Silent Passage_

* * *

_Present_

_Monday, May 19, 2014 – 9:45 am_

_Captain Byakuya Kuchiki's Residence, Rukongai_

Rukia woke up later than she would have liked. She groaned as she rolled out of bed and then padded downstairs to the dining room where she saw that brunch was laid out. She frowned and then remembered that it was Monday. Of course, her big brother always set out a lovely brunch for her and Renji on Monday mornings. It was the one day of the week that her brother didn't work. She glanced at the clock and saw it was a quarter until ten, so no doubt the two lovebirds would make their way downstairs soon enough. She shook her head. She still couldn't believe after nearly eight years, her brother was still with the fiery red-head boy she'd grown up beside. There were not two more different people in the world, she thought. Her brother was stoic and proper all the time. Renji was wild and untamed. Perhaps that was what attracted them to each other.

"Brother!" she said, smiling as her brother came down the steps followed by a robe-clad Renji. She frowned because Byakuya was dressed already. "Brother? What is it?"

"Let us sit to brunch and we'll talk there. I've actually already been to work and returned this morning," he said with a sigh as he seated himself.

Renji sat down beside him with Rukia on the other side. They were served brunch and Renji and Rukia both waited patiently.

"I have news. We had a bust Saturday night, or rather early Sunday morning. It was Nnoitra's ring. We didn't get him, but we rescued four hundred twenty four individuals with minimal loss of life. There were six of Nnoitra's guards that were killed, but we captured eighteen more. It was the end of Zaraki's undercover, however. He's no longer able to return after this," Byakuya said thoughtfully. "But all though we didn't get Nnoitra himself, we have a lot of evidence that may put him behind bars."

Rukia's eyes went wide at the mention of Nnoitra. "Did they find him? Please, did they find him, Brother?"

Every time her brother came back with news of another dead body found, she asked the same question. Every time they raided another warehouse, she asked the same question. And every time, her brother gave her the same answer. No. Again and again, she held out hope that the boy who had become her friend in those dirty cells would be found alive. She never gave up that hope, even after watching Nnoitra nearly beat the kid to death when he put his eye out. She knew, somewhere, that he was still alive. Her brother was sure, as well. It wouldn't do to kill the only leverage that they had over the boy's father and uncle. However, she knew that that didn't mean he wasn't injured.

After she and Renji had awoken tied up on her brother's porch, she swore she'd find him. It had taken a few years, but she eventually exited the police academy the same year as Renji. Renji wanted revenge as well after the things he'd seen. He wanted Aizen and more of them dead or at the very least behind bars. Now, Rukia was a field agent in the Shinigami, and Renji was her partner. She was under a different division than her brother ran, of course, she was under a man named Ukitake, and they were a part of the drug squad. Her brother was head of human trafficking division that was working with the undercover division run by Captain Zaraki since Zaraki was undercover. Considering the size of the human trafficking ring, it was expected to have two men lead on the operation.

Byakuya handed her a file. "I am at the same time happy and heartbroken to tell you yes, sister."

Rukia opened it and gasped. Renji reached over and flinched. "Fuck me sideways, man…"

The set of pictures were of course from when he was brought into the emergency ward, unconscious. They had documented the extensive injuries as well as the piercings and scars that littered his body. Rukia held onto one of the headshots that showed him sleeping before they removed the metal piercings and bars.

"He's alive, though," she said softly.

Byakuya nodded. "He's been taken to the Seireitei safe house. I've already talked to your captain, he's agreed if you wish to visit with him you may. I warn you, however, keep in mind what he's been through. That's why I want you to read that before you go."

The stoic captain stood and kissed the top of Renji's red head. "Please, be safe." He turned and left. The paperwork he had to do was incredible.

Rukia swallowed a knot in her throat and flipped through the pictures carefully. She set them aside and took a look at the preliminary report that Dr. Unohana had put together.

"Subject: Ichigo Kurosaki. Height: 5'9". Weight: 110 lbs. Hair color: Red (Orange). Eye Color: Brown.

"Subject entered my care at 4:34 am, Sunday May 18, 2014. Subject was non-verbal at entrance to the medevac bus. Captain Zaraki carried Kurosaki from the compound. He was initially triaged with broken ribs and possible broken ankle. Suspected broken pelvic bone and orbital bone. Subject was resistant to leaving Zaraki's arms. Examination revealed multiple contusions and lacerations on his back after shirt was cut away. It was necessary to sedate him in order to complete the exam. Upon sedation, subject was examined partially in the medevac bus. It was determined waiting until arrival at the hospital to complete the exam was necessary. Ribs and ankle were both wrapped for stabilization."

Rukia closed her eyes, remembering the vibrant boy in the cage next to her. She swallowed and continued to read the report.

"Exam continuation, 5:15 am. Once subject was admitted and brought to an exam room I proceeded to remove piercings that looked inflamed and treat tearing of the skin from obvious removal of other piercings.

"Record of piercing placement and removal." This section included a body diagram with markings where she had removed them. Rukia winced. "Subject had fourteen through the right eyebrow, sixteen through the left eyebrow, evidence of eyelid piercings, though currently not in place, one in each nostril, one septum, one in each cheek, four in the interior of the tongue, three through the tip of the tongue, three across the top lip, three across the bottom lip, evidence of a fourth in the lower lip that was pulled out. Two labret piercings not currently in place. Ears were pierced multiple times, please see pictures for this. Subject was also pierced through each nipple and had six surface piercings in the areola around each nipple. Subject had four surface piercings in the upper abdomen and lower abdomen. Belly button was pierced three times, bottom and either side. Subject also had been subjected to multiple genital piercings. Please see accompanying urologist report."

Rukia winced again because the next page was the urologist's report. She handed it to Renji after glancing at the pictures. Renji visibly paled. Rukia turned to the psychological report, and her heart dropped. She poked Renji in the side and he looked at her.

"You should hear this," she said softly. "Subject was retrieved by Captain Kenpachi Zaraki. Zaraki reported that he was given to him to 'entertain' him by Nnoitra Gilga, who claimed he 'can't sell him, so I get to play with him'. Zaraki was unsure of the meaning but noted the obvious state the subject was in. He was forced to carry him from the scene due to a broken ankle that rendered him unable to walk on his own. Upon admittance, subject was awakened for evaluation. Due to severe and violent panic, subject was given another sedative. At this time we are unable to ascertain mental state of the subject."

She swallowed and thumbed through the rest of the evidence photos and sighed deeply. "What happened to him, Renji?"

Renji shook his head. "We should go see him. Maybe it will help if he sees us? Since we knew him before…this."

_Present_

_Monday, May 19th, 9:00 am_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Zaraki had no idea what the hell was going on now, but he didn't like it any more than the kid screaming his head off in the middle of the night. "What kind of problem, Yumi?" he said, looking up from the now silent boy to his best trauma counselor.

"I think…I think something triggered a severe reaction. He's repressing everything, basically trauma induced amnesia, and if I don't miss my guess, closed off…it is most likely temporary, an acute response to the trauma and the change in situation, you see," Yumichika said with a deep frown.

Yumichika kneeled down in front of him and tipped his head up, noting the lack of response to touch at all. His eyes were wide and open but they were not really with them. "Ichigo?" Yumichika tried again. He stared at him and blinked but otherwise didn't move.

"What happened last night? Before he went to sleep?" Yumichika asked without moving from staring at the boy's face. There were still plenty of red, swollen areas and he honestly had to be in some sort of pain. The ankle alone should have kept him from even walking, yet he moved on the walking cast as though nothing was wrong at all.

Zaraki frowned. "I talked to him a bit, told him about his room, he cried on me and then started muttering that he was sorry."

Yumichika looked up. "He spoke? He actually said something?"

Yachiru piped up. "Yeah, Kenny called him by his name and he kind freaked out a bit and then said his name a couple times and then said sorry like he was sorry about crying on Kenny's shirt or something," she said, munching on the marmalade toast she'd made herself.

"His name," Yumichika said. "Did he say anything else when he woke up last night?"

"Um, something about 'not baby boy'?" Zaraki said thoughtfully.

At the phrase, Yumichika felt the subtle shudder go through the boy. "He called him that instead of his name. You triggered a reaction by using his name which he hadn't heard in a long time, it would seem. He's shut down to avoid facing it. I'm…wow, I've never seen something this bad."

The officer at the front came in with two people behind him. "Sirs?"

Zaraki looked up to see two other officers that had been involved with the case. He frowned a bit because he knew that Renji was Byakuya's lover, and Rukia was his sister. He seemed unable to get away from the annoying man. However, he had to put up with him and he also had to put up with these two. Technically, they'd been kidnapped at the same time period, and they were a part of the whole case.

"Kuchiki, Abarai," Zaraki said as Yumichika stood up and took a seat.

"Um, we came to see if we could help. I…I read the file that my brother had," Rukia said. "I thought, maybe since we were there at the beginning…"

Yumichika sighed. "At this point it certainly won't hurt matters," he said, sipping his coffee thoughtfully.

Rukia and Renji came around and looked at him. At least they weren't surprised by his appearance after seeing the photos from the hospital. He looked better, to be honest, with the piercings removed. She came around and kneeled on the floor next to his chair and smiled.

"Ichigo?" she asked.

He blinked and looked at her. She could tell it wasn't because he heard his name, but because someone spoke near him. He reached out and touched her short, dark hair and smiled gently, childishly, she thought. He then leaned back into Zaraki's large form and closed his eyes.

"Don't you remember me?" she asked quietly.

He opened his eyes again and looked at her, then up at Renji who was standing behind her and his brow creased. Rukia's heart beat a little faster. Maybe he knew them? Even if she appeared plain, Renji was notable for his appearance. The fire red hair and the tribal tattoos set him apart from everyone else.

There was a desperate battle for control happening on Ichigo's part that was completely invisible and completely silent. Inside his mind, his white was trying to rip away the walls that Ichigo had built to protect himself, and he didn't want him to do that. He wanted him to stop. So outwardly, he moved to stand up and then fell into a heap, completely unconscious.

_Flashback _

_Thursday, July 5th, 2007_

_Espada Holding Cells_

"What do you think he's going to do with us?" Ichigo asked Rukia nervously. "We've been down here between two and three weeks and he's said nothing. I'm tired of that…man…too."

Rukia sighed. "It's humiliating, you know. The bastard Nnoitra's got a thing for you. Creepy."

Ichigo suppressed a shudder. "Yeah, you didn't hear him when I was brought in. I just…I don't want anything to do with him."

There were a couple other people that had been brought in, a white haired boy that didn't talk, and another younger boy that had dark hair that honestly looked about to faint from fear. They'd been locked across the way from Rukia and Ichigo. Neither of the others were very interested in conversation. However, they also didn't get the "special" attention Nnoitra paid Ichigo.

The door banged open and they guessed they were getting a new guest. Both Rukia and Ichigo stood up to watch, while Toshiro (the white haired boy) and Hanataro (the other one) just lay still on their cots. Ichigo shivered because he heard Nnoitra's voice.

"Move, goddammit," Nnoitra said and Ichigo watched as he manhandled a man with bright red hair down the stairs. He was gagged and his arms were bound behind him. He had some black tattoos over his face and upper shoulders, and he looked like he had been in one hell of a fight.

"Renji!" Rukia yelled, and he looked her direction and stopped fighting immediately.

"Oh, your boyfriend's sister means you'll start cooperating? Good," Nnoitra said and took him to the farthest cell in the line and shoved him in. He slammed it shut and snorted. "Back up, gimme your hands."

Renji backed up and Nnoitra sliced through the ropes and turned to leave. Ichigo was hoping he wouldn't…he did.

Nnoitra stopped in front of Ichigo's cell and grinned. "Hey there baby boy. How are you today?"

Ichigo glared at him. "Aw, why so tsundere?" he said with a grin. "That's okay, all the sweeter when I get my hands on you."

"Leave him alone," Renji called. "Fucking pervert bastard. Don't you have enough people in your warehouses to fuck with?"

Nnoitra looked over at Renji and grinned. "Oh yes, and I fuck them regularly, trust me. My boys are well used by the time they're bought. And this one…this one can't be sold. So he'll be mine instead. Aizen promised."

Renji growled. "You can't do that. We're not your merchandise in here."

Nnoitra smiled at Ichigo and looked down at Renji. "Don't flatter yourself, red. I wouldn't fuck you with a ten foot pole…though that might be interesting to use on you, sweet baby boy…"

Ichigo swallowed and tried his best not to show the fact that it was getting to him. He wasn't going to give him the pleasure. Nnoitra leaned forward and licked the bars. "Oh, yes, that'd be nice. Tie you up, strap you down, and fuck your little cunt until you scream with a hard thick…"

"Nnoitra, where the fuck are you?" came a voice down the stairs and the blue haired Grimmjow looked down. "Quit fucking with the boy, and get the fuck up here. Aizen wants you," Grimmjow snarled said and shook his head.

Nnoitra rolled his eyes and sauntered up the stairs. "Always ruin my fun…" he muttered as the door closed.

Ichigo buried his head in his hands and panted for breath. Rukia stuck a hand through the bars and patted his back gently as he sat down on the cot with his back to her. "Just breathe, he's not going to hurt you, he's just messing with your head, remember? If he hurts you, they can't control your family."

Ichigo nodded. "I know, I know…"

Renji had moved to the edge of his. "Does he do this to him all the time?" he asked, concern creasing his face.

Rukia looked behind her and nodded. "He's down here at least once a day. He says that Aizen told him he could have him. But I don't know; he's probably just messing with him."

Renji nodded. "Have you been here the whole time you've been gone?" Renji asked, sitting on his cot.

She nodded. "Yeah, when I got here Ichigo was the only one here. No one's told us what they plan, but they feed us, granted, I doubt I'll ever have to worry about losing weight again with how much we get. It's dirty and disgusting and they enjoy making us suffer. But the worst that happens is getting your knuckles rapped for being too loud."

Renji nodded. "Your brother is out of his mind with worry," he said softly with a sigh. "And now…I don't know what he'll do."

"He'll drop the Las Noches case if he wants his lover and his sister back," came a voice from the stairs. It was the tall, buxom blonde woman. "That's the deal. He removes himself from the case, the case falls apart without him, and Aizen's clear, and you two get to go back home to him."

Renji stood up. "He murdered that kid in there! He's not going to just go free for that!"

Harribel smiled, but it was a gentle smile, and there appeared to be no malice in this woman. "Yes, he will. Once Byakuya Kuchiki is off the case, the evidence will be contaminated, conveniently, and the witness will recant her story completely, saying that she had been paid by someone to lie. That someone will be one of our rivals, but don't worry about it right now. And once everything has settled, you'll be sent back to your lover and you to your brother."

Rukia glanced at the still obviously shaken Ichigo. "And him?"

Harribel glanced at him. "I can't help him," she said and turned and left, but the others didn't miss the look of sadness that crossed her face.

The three of them played verbal games, trying to keep their minds off things. When other people were brought in, they included them, and tried to get them to participate and do something, anything, that made them feel like they were still in the world of the living, and not in this strange place outside of time. Rukia and Renji told Ichigo about Byakuya Kuchiki, and Ichigo told them about his dad and his completely nutty uncle, and his sisters. To be honest, the captivity could have been worse. None of the others, though, suffered the same humiliation as Ichigo did at Nnoitra's hands.

_Saturday, July 21st, 2007_

A particularly bad experience for Ichigo happened about five weeks into their captivity. Several other cages had been filled by that point and everyone knew that if the lanky one with black hair came down the stairs what he was there for, and most of them tried to do anything except watch and listen to what he said to his favorite "baby boy".

Nnoitra brought the trays down that day, and as usual when he did it, he made sure to stop at Ichigo's cell last of all. He smiled that weird smile that set Ichigo on edge and slid the tray under the slot slowly. Ichigo reached down and Nnoitra reached out and snatched Ichigo's arm. Ichigo gasped and Nnoitra pulled him into the bars with a bang, twisting his arm against the bars so he couldn't move.

"Ow….what…" Ichigo said.

"Hey baby boy," He said and leaned forward and licked Ichigo's cheek through the bars.

"Gilga! Leave him alone!" Rukia said, standing at the bars.

Nnoitra smiled at her. "Nah, I am dying for at least a little play time with my toy."

Ichigo couldn't move at all. He had a vice grip on his wrist and it pulled tight against the outside of the bars, his shoulder twisted painfully. Ichigo tried to twist away, but his feet couldn't get purchase on the floor and he slipped and fell back onto his ass, whining as the pressure on his shoulder increased. Nnoitra at least lowered his arm down a bit and then reached his other long hand through the bars and pulled his face around. He pressed his own face against Ichigo's mouth and forced his tongue in, using his hand to press his face into the bars and keep it still. Ichigo was shocked and tried to push back with his other hand but Nnoitra twisted his arm and he stilled, whimpering and unable to move. He wasn't sure, but the way it felt, he thought he could either break his shoulder like that or at least pull it out of socket. Nnoitra pulled back, licking Ichigo's lips as he did and smiled.

"You taste sweet, baby boy," he said smiling. "I wonder what the rest of you tastes like," he muttered and his hand moved down and Ichigo yelped as he squeezed his crotch through his pants. Granted, after five weeks, his clothes were growing threadbare.

"Gilga!" Rukia shouted, banging on the bars, hoping the noise would annoy someone else.

He squeezed Ichigo tighter, making with whimper at the pressure. "Ah, won't work sister Rukia. No one home but me. So yell and scream all you want. I could open this cage and fuck him senseless, and there would be nothing you could do about it…well, I guess you could watch, would you like that, sweetie?" he said, leaning over and biting down on Ichigo's ear.

"Please, stop," he said, more because he knew it was upsetting Rukia more than anything. "Don't…"

He released his hold but then his hand snaked into his pants making him yelp again as his hand began to explore him. Ichigo held back the bile that was rising in his throat as his fingers began to slide around over his body where he definitely did not want them. Then, just as quickly his hand slipped back out. "Ah, that's enough for today. Don't want Daddy Aizen getting mad at me for being too harsh, but you have got to keep that bitch friend of yours quiet," he said, leaning over and biting into his ear again, making him squirm.

He turned toward Rukia who was glaring at him. "You'll know better next time, bitch. This is on you," he said and stared at Ichigo for a moment and then twisted his wrist just enough that Ichigo felt the pulling of his shoulder and the painful pop when it came out of socket. He screeched and fell back when Nnoitra let go of it and went up the stairs.

Ichigo fell back onto his back and held his arm against him.

"Ichigo!" Rukia said, going to the bars and staring at him horrified. He faded out, though because staying conscious was just too much work at the moment.

He woke to murmuring around him and then saw that he was on his cot and the hand that wasn't connected to the out of socket shoulder was handcuffed to the bars. He looked up to see the pink haired man. He was shaking his head. "Fuckin' Nnoitra," he muttered. "I swear, if he doesn't quit fucking with his merchandise and the prisoners, I'm going to spike his goddamned drink with Ipecac."

He looked down and saw Ichigo was awake. "Oh, there you are. Hold on. This is gonna hurt like a bitch," he said with a nod of his head and Ichigo started to say something but yelped instead as the "doctor" pulled his shoulder back into place. Ichigo panted heavily as the cell closed and locked, and he came around and took off the handcuff from the outside. He tossed a piece of white cloth at him. "Fix a sling for it; you'll be fine in a couple days."

"I'm sorry, Ichigo," Rukia said from the next cell. He shook his head.

"Wasn't you, was him…" he said, breathing through the shooting pains.

_Present_

_Monday, May 19th, 11:00 am_

_Seireitei Safe House_

"Wasn't you, was him!" Ichigo shouted and sat up blinking in the middle of the dining room.

He blinked, frowning and was surrounded by people he didn't know. Where was he? Where was his master now? He looked and saw the massive man sitting at the table and smiled, getting to his hands and knees, ignoring everyone around him, and crawled to him. He blinked and laid his head against the inside of his thigh, making the man start and put his hand on his head. He smiled and rubbed back into the large hand. He loved to have his head touched like that. It was so much nicer than the way his last master had pulled his hair so much.

"What…what are you doing?" his master asked. He didn't speak, he wasn't supposed to speak. Maybe if he was good from the start this time, his master wouldn't be so mean to him. Maybe if he was good master would be kind and pet him and let him sleep and let him go without the chains…

"Ichigo?" he asked and he didn't respond. That was long gone. He wasn't that anymore. He was Master's to call whatever he wanted, though, so he guessed if he wanted to use that word to refer to him, he'd accept it. After all, he didn't choose, only master did.

Zaraki, on the other hand, was more than a little perplexed. He looked at Yumichika who had a look of concern across his face as he came forward and kneeled by Zaraki's leg. Rukia and Renji were staring because obviously their presence had triggered something.

"He said that to me, in the cells," she said quietly, looking at Yumichika. "Nnoitra had been messing with him, had ended up pulling his shoulder out of socket and told me if I had been quiet he wouldn't have. Ichigo told me that it wasn't me it was him when I told him I was sorry."

Zaraki sighed, his hand staying on his head. He looked up at the pair. He guessed he was okay with these two even if he hated Byakuya with a passion. "What else did you see happen while you were with him that didn't get into the report?"

Renji nodded and went and sat down across the table. "Gilga was always telling him he was going to do things to him, horrible, perverted, disgusting things. I mean, it would turn your stomach some of the stuff he said to him. And if he followed through, I can't imagine what it was like for him."

Yumichika nodded. "What did he say he had planned for him?"

Renji sighed. "I…I can't even remember half of it. You imagine some perversity, and he told Ichigo he was going to do it. He turned literally everything into something disgusting. All the other people there, everyone felt sorry for him. He was always jumpy and if the door opened, you could just see the look of fear cross his face that it would be the bastard again. He rarely touched him, but when he did…like the shoulder thing. He made sure it lasted."

Zaraki felt Ichigo shift and looked down to see him looking up at him with wide eyes. Ichigo smiled and then nuzzled his face into the crook of Zaraki's hip. Zaraki frowned and realized what he was doing. "Oh no," he said, pushing back on his head. Ichigo looked up, frowning at him. "No, you aren't doing that," he said sternly, and a look of almost sadness passed his face and he dropped down onto the floor flat, putting his forehead on his folded hands and stilling.

Zaraki blinked and looked at Yumichika. "He thinks you'll punish him now," he said. "Tell him you aren't. He expects to be punished when he's done something you don't want him to do. You told him no, so he thinks he was wrong, and my guess is, Nnoitra used every excuse to beat him by the look of his scars."

Zaraki nodded and put his hand back on his head. Apparently that was something that never failed to get his attention because he sat up and looked at him. "No doesn't mean I'm gonna hit you. I don't hit people unless they do something really bad. And you haven't done anything really bad."

Ichigo looked at him for a long moment and then put his head back against the inside of his thigh, but didn't try and move toward his crotch again. Zaraki sighed. "This is complicated."

_Monday, May 19th, 6:00 pm_

_Visored Safe House_

"Sir?" the youngest member of the group said softly from beside their leader.

"What is it, Rin?" the white skinned man said, glancing down at the thirteen year old boy. He fixed his strange eyes on him and smiled gently.

"Um, sorry to bother you, but Shinji and Hiyori want to see you, sir," he said smiling.

"You don't have to call me sir, Rin," he said, standing up and patting him on the head.

Shiro was all he was known as, he had no other name. If he had, he'd lost it a long time ago. It didn't matter anymore. As long as Kuro was with him, it was okay. Shiro paused, pulling the long coat around him tightly and saw the group of people down below. He saw Shinji's bright yellow hair, and Hiyori's pigtails. He wondered what had happened. He went down the stairs slowly. He was clothed in a long black kimono and the long coat he wore outside. His strange black and gold eyes took in everything around him. He came to the bottom and took off his coat, hanging it on the hook. Anyone that saw him would see the network of scars on the back of his neck and upper back even with the long sleeved kimono on him. The most striking scar, though, was the one that had nearly severed his head from his shoulders. It ran bright red across the front of his throat, and his larynx had been damaged. His voice now had a raspy quality. He didn't mind.

"Shiro!" Shinji said, coming over to him and smiling. "Lisa found out that they busted Nnoitra's ring. Everyone was picked up by the feds. They got everyone. Looks like the feds had finally managed an inside man, some guy named Ken Trent?"

Shiro nodded. "Ken Trent, I remember hearing about him. He has been up and coming for a while. Smart, putting a man like that out here. Brilliant actually."

_But did they save me, Shiro?_ Kuro whispered to him. Shiro shook his head, shaking away the vision of the dark haired Kuro that danced around the edges of his line of sight.

"What about Kuro?" he asked, looking between the two blondes.

Hiyori shook her head. "We're not sure. We do know that Nnoitra has lost it, so my guess is that the feds got him."

There was one thing that Shiro wanted more than anything. He wanted Kuro back. He wanted the only person in the entire word he gave a damn about. "They'll have him in a safe house by now, then," he said, walking toward the coffee machine and pouring a cup. "What's the work been about it?"

"Kensei's been working an angle at the local boxing club, some gambling going on in the underground fighting, we think," Shinji said. "And we managed to get Mashiro and Rose into Harribel's corporation as a mail room worker and a receptionist."

Shiro nodded, sipping the coffee. His strange eyes put most people off immediately, but the rest of his crew had gotten used to the abnormal coloration. "Good, good. Any word on where Nnoitra's been hanging out lately? He'll be vulnerable now that he lost his plaything and had his division destroyed."

"Shiro, now isn't the best time with the feds up their ass, you know," Hiyori pointed out.

"Don't give a fuck, I have you to complete the work if I get picked up. If I've got the chance, I'm going to get my hands on Nnoitra and strap him down and do to him what the bastard did to me," he said, looking away thoughtfully. "And then, I'll let Kuro do the same thing to him."

Hiyori and Shinji exchanged a look. They weren't entirely sure that Kuro was actually real. They had decided not long after meeting Shiro that he was more than a little insane. He'd talk about Kuro like he stood right beside him, yet then he'd talk about him as though he was being held by Nnoitra. They'd decided in private that Kuro must have been someone that had been held with Shiro and possibly been killed while the albino watched. It would explain his insanity. However, Shiro knew more about Aizen's operation than anyone, and also knew how to sneak into facilities and rescue people who were waiting to be sold by the human trafficking division.

Hiyori and Lisa had been virgin sales, two lucky ones that had not had to endure Nnoitra's advances or the guards'. Mashiro, being female, had not had to deal with Nnoitra, but had been subjected to the whims of the guards. The others, Shinji, Love, Rose, Kensei, and Hachi, had all been on the receiving end of Nnoitra's overtures. Of the five, only Rose and Shinji had received more than one visit from the bastard. When Shinji had been gotten out by Shiro, the first actually, he had been nearly dead and it had taken Shiro weeks to nurse him back to health. Rose had been rescued at the same time, early in his captivity. Over the last four years, he managed to get out of the warehouses with one or two people. More than that, and he would have been noticed. Kuro told him which ones to rescue. Kuro was the one that whispered into his dreams who needed him the most, and Kuro was the one that led him once he made contact with his inside man. There was one person on the inside of Aizen's organization he could trust, one person who hated Nnoitra almost as much as he did, and he was the only person that knew that Shiro yet lived.

Since then, Shiro had managed to get Rin and Cirucci out, a thirteen year old boy and his twenty year old sister. The security had become ridiculously tight, making it impossible to get into the warehouses. The rest of their time was spent trying to put dents in Aizen's organization. If they brought Aizen down, Nnoitra would have no one to protect him. Shiro, however, wanted more than that. Shiro wanted to get his hands on the man himself. He wanted to see him suffer and feel the pain of being tormented and tortured like they had. Shiro wished that Nnoitra had someone like Kuro though, so he could kill him right in front of him. Nnoitra had made Kuro watch as he beat Shiro to death, and then cut his throat, telling Kuro it was his fault that he had to kill Shiro. He told Kuro if he'd just been good, Shiro wouldn't have had to die.

Nnoitra had underestimated Shiro's will to live. Somehow, he managed to survive. Somehow, he had crawled out of the dumpster his lifeless body had been left in. Somehow, he managed to hold onto his life with the barest of threads. And after six months in the hospital, he had managed to pull himself together and swear revenge on the person that had done such horrible things to him and forced his dear, sweet, Kuro to watch. Tears sprung to his strange black and gold eyes and he remembered vividly watching Kuro's spirit break. That had been the moment it happened. Kuro had such a vibrant spirit, and then, Nnoitra broken him completely.

_Flashback_

_Friday, June 18th, 2010 – 11:30 pm_

_Espada Compound, Outside Rukongai_

"Don't watch!" Shiro screamed. "Please, don't watch," he cried out to him.

"Shut up, you mouthy bitch," Nnoitra said, using the chain to pull him back in and striking his face again. Behind him, he heard him whimpering and screaming behind the gag. He always beat him in front of him. Nnoitra knew that to hurt him, he had to hurt Shiro.

"I'm telling you, I'm tired of you," Nnoitra said, lifting up the albino by his arm and throwing him to the bed again.

Shiro's white flesh was a myriad of red and black, and he was sure his jaw was broken. Alone the two of them were nothing, but together, they'd become something. Shiro and Kuro, white and black. So simple, yet it meant everything. They balanced each other. Shiro was loud, and Kuro was quiet. Shiro was violent and Kuro was so passive. Shiro had nothing to live for, and Kuro had everything. So they were yin and yang, and they fit perfectly together.

Nnoitra had decided to take Shiro as his own when he saw him the first time. He had been excited by his exotic looks, and decided that he wanted his white flesh covered in marks. Then, he put him with Kuro and was amazed. They looked similar to each other and Nnoitra was caught. But then, Kuro began to get stronger instead of weaker. So he had to stop it. To stop it, he hurt Shiro in front of him. When he couldn't break either of them, he moved on to worse things.

Shiro had lost more than blood to Nnoitra. It hadn't been long that in a fit rage, Nnoitra had actually castrated him in retaliation for finding him making love to Kuro. He'd nearly died from the blood loss alone, but the mere thought of leaving his Kuro alone kept him alive.

"See, see what you make me do?" Nnoitra screamed as he laid into Shiro's flesh with the crop. "If you would do as you're told, if you would fucking do as you're told, I wouldn't do this to your friend. I gave you a friend, a brother even, someone to hold onto at night, someone to love, and what do you fucking do? Still cannot listen to me."

Shiro refused to scream or make noise when Nnoitra was like this. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction. But poor Kuro, his eyes streamed tears as he watched. It killed Shiro that it hurt him so much. Shiro hated to see Kuro beaten or fucked, but when Kuro was forced to watch, it was like he was living through it at the same time as Shiro. It was vicious. And he didn't stop. Shiro was wondering if he was going to stop. His consciousness was fading and he couldn't even get the strength to flinch at the strikes. Something was wrong, very wrong, as his head began to buzz. He heard Kuro screaming despite the gag he wore. He felt Nnoitra hovering over him and a sharp pain in his throat, something different than he'd ever felt. He heard Nnoitra's voice and then a buzzing sound.

"You've gone too far, dammit…" he heard someone say. "I can't help him."

Kuro was sobbing, wildly and he felt tears falling on him but he couldn't open his eyes to show him that he was alive, he was okay, he was fine, like always. "Don't leave me," he heard his voice weak and so broken. "I can't…I can't do this without you…" pierced the veil of Shiro's mind. He wanted to reach up and touch his face, and push away the tears like he did when they were huddled together in the cage made for one. He'd hold him and rock him and tell him it was okay, they were okay, they had each other now, and that was okay.

It wasn't okay, though. Shiro knew that now because he felt everything slipping away. "You see what fucking happens!" Nnoitra's shrill voice. "He's fucking dying because of you, fucking you, you goddamned…argh!" A resounding slap and Shiro wanted to wake up, and wanted to beat the shit about of the person who was hurting Kuro so badly, the person that was ripping out Kuro's heart like this.

Things faded away for a while, and he woke next gasping for breath and it stunk horribly. He groaned and rolled and found he was in a dumpster. Luckily for him, it was full and he managed to crawl to the top, dumping himself into the alleyway. He was noticed. So it was that John Doe 15 lived. He knew he had a purpose now, and Kuro's voice reminded him every moment he lived what that was. Kuro's sweet voice, Kuro's loving and caring voice. There was no other that was more important than that.


	4. Memory Sequence

**Blade's Edge**

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_Memory Sequence_

* * *

_Present_

_Monday, May 19th, 1:00 pm_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Renji and Rukia at the same time wanted to know and didn't want to know what had happened to the boy that had become their friend in those cages. They all knew what they had seen on the reports. The piercings he'd put into him alone was enough to turn someone's stomach several times over. And now, he acted like a lost puppy at Zaraki's feet. Rukia was sure that she couldn't have been any sadder than she was at the moment. She moved over and kneeled beside Zaraki's leg. Ichigo was still sitting between his legs with his head resting against his thigh, and he looked like he was sleeping.

"Zaraki, is he asleep?" she asked, looking up at the larger man.

Zaraki touched his head and got no response and felt the soft huff of breath on his leg. He nodded. "I'll be damned, how can he sleep like that?"

Yumichika shook his head. "He probably had no choice. Do you honestly think a bed is someplace of comfort for him?"

Zaraki nodded, and left his hand against the back of his head. "I guess I shouldn't move him then."

Yumichika shook his head. "I don't think it would be a good idea. He'll probably wake almost immediately."

_Flashback_

_Saturday, September 15th, 2007_

_Espada Compound_

"Come on, you little bitch, I'm not fighting with you today," Nnoitra said, dragging his orange haired charge roughly down the corridor by the chain he had attached to the collar on his neck.

It had been four weeks, and Ichigo was not about to do anything he said, damn any consequences. His days usually ended with more than a little pain, but it was worth it to see the frustration light up the bastard's eyes. It was somewhat childish, what he was doing now, digging his heels into the floor as Nnoitra tried to hurry him. He growled and yanked backward when he could. It wasn't like he could say anything; Nnoitra never let him out of their room without a gag of some sort. Today it was one he hated more than anything. It was one that wedged his mouth open, and there was a piece inset into it, a thick rubber piece that nearly choked him. He knew it could be removed, allowing someone to use his mouth without taking it off him. It had the added benefit that he couldn't bite.

Nnoitra had found out the hard way that sometimes, Ichigo just didn't care how much he beat him with the whip or the crop. He had some small satisfaction that he'd needed two stiches in his cock after that incident and couldn't fuck for a week. Of course, the torture that came during that week was almost worse than the satisfaction. In response, Ichigo had ended up needing a few stitches himself in less than savory places as well. However, every single time he thought back to Nnoitra's face when he saw his dick bleeding was golden and made him smile. So now, he was stuck with the dumb gag. He had no idea what the hell it was called but whoever made it was a fucking sadistic prick, he'd decided.

Finally, Nnoitra had enough of him and yanked hard on the chain and just grabbed him by the arm and shoved him ahead of him. Ichigo winced as he fell into the wall. His back was a mess at the moment, and every movement seemed to pull at one of the scabs. Of course, it wasn't like his legs or ass were in much better shape. Ever since the bite incident, Nnoitra had been particularly vicious with his beatings. The double doors opened and he was shoved into a wider room full of people and despite the fact this wasn't the first "group" he'd been shown to, he still blushed at the people staring at him. He wasn't naked (thank gods), but he was pretty damn close. He was wearing a set of leather bindings on his upper body, and a pair of what amounted to a pair of tight boy short panties over the cage Nnoitra had started making him wear. He had no idea why. He didn't have one bit of problems when it came to getting near a hard on.

"Hello, boys," Nnoitra said, shoving him toward a chair in the center of the room that Ichigo had never seen. It was reminiscent of a dentist's chair or something. "Here for the show tonight?" he asked, smiling.

There were too many people for Ichigo to recognize any of them. He vaguely remembered the guy with blue hair, and that one with pink that was a doctor was walking toward them.

"Nnoi, you sure about this? I mean, it isn't like you've been trained in this…" the pink haired man said almost nervously.

"I've watched YouTube videos on it, I can handle it, Szayel," he said with a smirk as he shoved Ichigo into the chair and strapped his hands to the arms. He strapped his ankles to the feet of it, then leaned over and buckled a belt around his waist really tightly.

"Don't worry so much, if he starts bleeding too much, that's what you're here for," Nnoitra said and Ichigo's eyes went wide at the comment.

"Let me get the med kit before you start, at least," he said and headed back out the double doors.

A face Ichigo did recognize came toward him. Aizen. "Well, there, aren't you a sight?" he said, looking him over. "Have you been good for Nnoi?"

"Fuck now," Nnoitra said, glaring at him. "Little fucker bit my dick a couple weeks ago. He _bit_ my fucking _dick._ Szayel had to give me two stitches!"

Aizen smiled at him. "Well, he's got spunk, that's for sure. Wouldn't expect any less out of my dear brother's nephew. What are your plans for him tonight that you wanted to have us view?"

Nnoitra grabbed a table and pulled it over. "Well, as you can see, he's got some of my lovely work already in his ears and his nose and his eyebrows, so now, I'm going to practice some of the more interesting piercings on him, figured you'd all enjoy the show, since all you fuckers are goddamned sadists too."

Aizen nodded and left, leaving Ichigo to wonder what the hell were "interesting" piercings? He looked up as Szayel came back and sat a large bag on the floor and shook his head.

"Just, watch out for…" he began.

Nnoitra shook his head. "I know, I know, don't worry, fuck man."

Ichigo didn't know what to expect, but he did know he didn't expect Nnoitra to produce a pair of scissors and cut the underwear he was wearing off him and unlatch the cage from him. Ichigo squirmed and blushed even brighter because the chair had is legs spread out and everyone now got quite a good view of his goods.

"Ah, now baby boy, for the fun part," Nnoitra said, holding up a curved needle. "First, this is called a…" he looked at the laptop sitting behind Ichigo. "This is a…frenum. All these technical names for shoving metal through your cock, right?" he said with a grin. Ichigo's eyes went wide and he shook his head. Nnoitra smiled and kneeled down; taking his time and taking pleasure in the stiffening of his body under him as he ran the needle through the thin skin. "Now, that's not so bad, is it?" he said looking up as Ichigo glared at him.

"Now, let's see, I like that a lot, so let's do a whole bunch, a Jacob's Ladder they call it when you do this…" he said, smiling and he worked diligently. Around the chair, those present were milling, coming up and watching for a while then moving back to their seats where they were chatting and having some sort of dinner. Ichigo looked over them and locked eyes with someone he recognized. Her name was Loly, he thought, from the cages. She was staring at him, no doubt recognizing him. She smiled sadly and turned back to serving drinks.

"There we go, isn't that lovely?" Nnoitra said, standing up and staring. More than a little blood was dripping onto the seat now. "Now…oh, yes, I'm dying to do this one…"

Ichigo thought piercing hurt. He really didn't expect what Nnoitra did next. He picked up a longer, thicker needle and smiled at Szayel. "You might come over for this one."

Szayel moved up and shook his head after he glanced at the computer next to Ichigo's head. "Seriously? You know how much damage you could do with this if you aren't careful?"

Nnoitra grinned. "I'm careful!"

Having a needle go through the tip of the penis isn't a fun experience, especially when it isn't one that the person having it done wants to have. "And now we have a…what the fuck they call this one…oh yeah, Ampallang. What a name!"

Szayel shook his head as he watched Nnoitra pulled the needle through, amazed there wasn't more blood, and slide a ring through the opening and snap it closed on the other side. "This one will be useful," Nnoitra said, grinning up at him.

"Whatever you do, Szayel, do not let that get ripped out. I can't repair that kind of damage, got it?" Szayel said, shaking his head. "I'm not a fuckin urologist."

Nnoitra smiled at him. "Well, that's up to him, now isn't it, baby boy?" he said, leaning up and licking his tears away.

Ichigo was dizzy now. He had never had a problem with needles or anything until the moment he put one through his cock. Now, he was about to pass out. No, scratch that, he thought as blackness encroached onto him. He was going to pass out. It was actually pleasant for a little while, until he woke up in excruciating pain.

He whined against the gag still in his mouth and felt Nnoitra pat his thigh. His eyes fluttered open and he was still in the room, still being watched, and his entire nether area was on fire. "There you are baby boy, gave you some more pretties," he said, standing up. Ichigo didn't want to look. His entire scrotum was burning along with every bit of his cock. If he ever got an erection again, he was sure it would be a miracle. At this moment, that whole part of his body could have fallen off and he wouldn't have cared or even noticed.

"Um, don't you think that's enough?" a voice said nearby. "I mean, he isn't looking so good. He's already passed out once, Nnoi," the voice said, coming closer. He blinked and saw a man he was unfamiliar with. He had long wavy brown hair and deep brown eyes.

"Ah, baby boy can take it, can't you?" Nnoi asked, yanking on something that pulled painfully on some part of him, he wasn't even sure what part. He whimpered against the gag and even to his own ears it sounded pitiful.

The man frowned and reached out and ran a surprisingly gentle hand over his head. Why couldn't he have someone like that take him instead of this sadistic bastard, he thought. Then he caught himself. What the fuck was he thinking? He was seriously comparing people who could treat him like a thing, a piece of property? This was taking a toll on him much more than he wanted to admit. However, what was he supposed to do?

"Now, done for now down there, though, my sweet boy, you'll be getting a few more later. I'll wait for the other ones though. I don't want you to die, after all. As it is, I can't play with the front of you for a while. I definitely don't want to pierce the back and not be able to fuck you at all…" he said with a grin and Ichigo realized what he was talking about piercing. Oh hell no, he thought to himself, shaking his head.

"Now, let's see, this shouldn't take long," he said, leaning forward with another needle and piercing his left nipple in one smooth move. Ichigo gasped and panted as he did the second one. That didn't quite feel as bad as having the other parts pierced, but dammit it still hurt.

Nnoitra clicked two thick rings into the openings and snapped a chain between them. He tugged experimentally on it and Ichigo came forward immediately with a gasp. "There we go. See, you are such a pain in the fucking ass. You don't like to be led by a goddamned collar like a normal fucking slave. So we're going to do things this way. That little piercing I put in your cock and these two right here, they're going to be attached to your fuckin' leash. Up to you how hard I pull on it, baby boy," he said with a grin.

Ichigo's eyes were wide as he tugged harder on the chain connecting the nipples together. That hurt so much already and he was going to attach it to the other one? Holy fuck, he thought to himself.

_Saturday, September 27th, 2007_

_Espada Compound_

By the time another week passed, Ichigo was a lot more compliant. He had no choice, of course. Nnoitra didn't even let the new piercings heal before he'd rigged a leashing system that incorporated all his favorite ways to punish him at once. He still wore the collar; the chain instead, though, ran through the ring instead of attaching to it. It then ran down and passed through both the nipple rings and continued down into a cage that Nnoitra had fitted for him that left a nice opening in the end where the chain again ran through the ring in the tip of his cock. It then threaded back up and split into two chains that each attached to one of the nipple rings securely. He wore a kilt looking thing most the time now to accommodate the torturous system Nnoitra had set up. Now, with a flick of his wrist, the chain would tighten from top to bottom, yanking painfully on every point in between. Ichigo had decided the bastard was a complete sadist to come up with something so fucking twisted like this. It was painful enough that there was no problem with him even beginning to say or do anything other than what Nnoitra told him to do.

Even then, he'd end up flogged, and he was really trying to do what he said now. Like as he was currently strapped to the bed on his stomach with him tearing into his back with the riding crop again. He didn't even know why; he didn't say this time.

Finally he was done and sat the crop down, sitting down beside him and yanking his head around to face him. Ichigo had tried to hide the tears, like always, but sometimes they just showed up whether he wanted them to or not. Nnoitra sometimes got this strange look on his face and petted his hair so gently. Ichigo wasn't sure what to make of it. One minute he'd be just about stripping the flesh from his back, and the next he'd look at him with a strange look on his face. He swallowed thickly and sighed, petting his head.

"I hate tears," Nnoitra said finally, looking away and lighting a cigarette thoughtfully. "My ma was a bitch, Jesus fuckin' Christ was she a bitch. Used to beat the living shit out of me when I was a kid for no reason," he said, pulling deeply on the cigarette. "Maybe that's why I'm such a fucking sadist now. Guess I want to hurt someone as much as she hurt me."

Nnoitra looked down where Ichigo had turned his head away from him and put a gentle hand on his head, surprising the younger man to no end. "Sometimes, when I leave you, I feel sorry for what I've done to you. Can you believe that?" he said, fingers running through his hair. "The day I told her I was gay, she put me in the hospital, you know. Broke my jaw with a cast iron frying pan. I was sixteen, and told the doctor everything. I was done with her. Never forget how heartbroken she acted, like she was so surprised I would tell someone what she was doing. Not like they didn't believe me, shit, child services had been out to my place six or seven times in the last few years. Everyone knew what she was doing but no one could prove it."

Another long pull from the cigarette. "What the fuck am I telling you this for? I guess that part of me that feels like shit after I've done something like this is getting to me a little bit. So I'm taking a break, sending you to stay with one of the others for a couple weeks. Gotta go to Kyoto to pick up a load of fuckbunnies personally. So Starrk asked if you could stay with him and I said yes. I'll take you in the morning."

The bed moved and Ichigo felt a sheet drop over him. Then the lights went out and he sighed because for once after beating him to a bloody pulp he left him alone. He slept, easily now, because he was used to being bound like this all night. Somehow it was comfortable.

_Present_

_Monday, May 19th, 2:00 pm_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Zaraki's leg had long ago gone numb when the kid leaned against him gasped and sat up with wide eyes. He was grabbing his leg and whimpering against him. Zaraki reached down and stroked his head as he looked up with wide brown eyes.

"D-don't give me away!" he said suddenly with wide eyes.

Zaraki frowned. "What?"

He then buried his head in the larger man's thigh again, trying desperately to refrain from crying. Crying was so bad and he couldn't stand to be given away again. He had lost his master, he'd lost his master and now no one would want him and he was tearing apart inside.

"Don't give me away…Master, please…" he whimpered against him. "Need you," he whined and gripped Zaraki's leg tighter. "Please, let me please master?" he said, looking up. "So you won't give me away?"

Zaraki wasn't sure what to do. "You aren't going anywhere, okay?" he said finally.

Ichigo stared at him with wide eyes that were glistening with barely contained tears. "No?" he asked, not noticing the others that had moved to get closer.

Zaraki glared at Yumichika who shrugged. "Comfort him," he said softly. "He's scared you'll abandon him like Nnoitra did. He thinks he abandoned him, gave him to you. He doesn't realize anymore that he was a prisoner. Seven years, Zaraki, that's a long time for someone to go through what he did."

Zaraki pulled his face up and looked at him. "Look, I'm not your master."

Ichigo's eyes went wide and his tears started in earnest. "Please, master, I'll be good, I'll do what you say, don't…don't give me away again!"

Zaraki gasped and looked up to the others and back and realized the kid was having a total panic attack and was gasping for breath. "Look, no, stop, I'm not giving you away, I'm…fine, okay, I'll let you call me master, okay?"

Finally, he seemed to catch his breath and whined rather loudly and grabbed the larger man around the waist, his face practically buried in his crotch. Despite the fact Zaraki was trying to keep his mind out of the gutter, having someone's face in his crotch huffing long, hot breaths onto him, aroused him suddenly. His eyes went wide and he tried to avoid groaning.

"Don't, okay, you need to move, kid," he said tightly, grabbing both sides of his orange head and lifting his face up, very glade he was wearing jeans.

"Is master mad?" he asked, eyes wide.

"No," Zaraki said. "Here, can you sit…on my leg here?" he asked, shifting uncomfortably.

Ichigo grinned and scrambled up to sit on the larger man's leg, leaning into his chest with a fluttering breath. There was a sudden calm that descended. And then Zaraki realized that he'd started to quietly cry against his chest. He put a hand around his back and frowned.

"What in the world are you crying for now?" he asked quietly.

Ichigo's head jerked up with a gasp and he suddenly was scrambling away from Zaraki at a frantic pace until he'd put himself into the corner of the room. Zaraki winced, remembering what he'd said about tears. He got up slowly and moved toward where he was sitting now with his chin resting on his knees staring blankly in front of him. Zaraki kneeled down in front of him.

"Say, none of that, okay? You can cry if you want to," he said, sighing. He'd actually completely forgotten the large audience he had. Everyone else watched in silence unsure if they should do or say anything.

"Don't cry, don't fucking cry," Ichigo said hollowly. "Tears make me mad. Really mad. I hate them. I hate you."

Zaraki swallowed with a wince. He really and truly wanted to get his hands on Nnoitra. Just for a few minutes. It would be all he'd need. "He's not here," he said finally.

Ichigo's head snapped up. "You hate me," he said quietly then, blinking.

Zaraki wasn't sure how to respond to that. "I don't, why would I? I got you away from him."

"You took me away!" he said, eyes wide suddenly. "You stole me away! I…I'm alone…I need, I need my master," he said, eyes flitting around the room frantically. "I can't…I can't…you don't want me! He wanted me! He always wanted me even if he hated me!" he said, voice growing louder.

Zaraki shook his head. "Ichigo, I don't…I don't understand what you mean. Why do you think I don't want you?"

Ichigo started rocking back and forth rhythmically. "He loved me, he hated me…all at the same time. You don't care, you stole me, you took me, I want to go back! I want my master, I want him to hurt me, because he wanted me to hurt for him, don't you understand! You took me away! You took his love away!" he was almost screaming at Zaraki now, his hands frantically touching his face, neck, wrists, and body where he still had healing wounds from the piercings and bindings. "You took it away, I'm alone," he said quietly and finally put his head on his knees.

Zaraki was at a complete loss and looked up to see Yumichika had come to stand behind him. "Cap, be careful," he said quietly. "He's volatile, and he thinks you have rejected him for some reason…we can't lose the progress we've made."

Zaraki gave Yumichika a glare. Just what the fuck was he supposed to do? How the fuck did he know carrying the fucking kid out of there was going to imprint on him like some sort of infant? He thought about what he looked like before. "Symbols," he said, looking up at Yumichika. "He's looking for the symbols of ownership he doesn't have anymore," he said thoughtfully.

Yumichika's face cleared and he winced. "Holy fuck-a-duck…I'm stupid. Of course…don't do anything, I'll be right back." He paused and turned back. "Cap, favorite color?" he asked.

Zaraki frowned and shook his head. "Um, red or black?" he said, completely confused. For one, Yumichika never cursed. And for another he never called himself stupid.

About thirty silent minutes passed and Yumichika came running back into the room holding a bag. He handed it to Zaraki. "He feels abandoned. Until we can get him out of this mindset you've got to show him he's wanted here, by you, since he equates the biggest, most dominate man to his master. Give him that, don't ask him, just put it on him," he said motioning to the bag.

Zaraki frowned and looked inside. "No, you are kidding me; I'm not going to…"

Yumichika kneeled beside Zaraki. "Listen, we've ripped him out of a life he's lived for seven years. He's forgotten what it's like to live for himself, what it's like to not have someone tell him what to do every moment. He's had independent thought beaten out of him. We can't expect him to suddenly be ready to go back to normal the second we get him out. It was hellish, but it was familiar and comfortable for him. This is completely alien and unknown and he's going to come unraveled if we can't give him some foothold in what has become his normalcy, especially since we are stuck in the safe house and he can't be sent to a care facility. If we were there, we could monitor him and help him through this, but there's too many dangers here, including him hurting himself because he can't handle it. Trust me, you won't be harming him. We're harming him as it is already," he said glancing to see that Ichigo's shoulders still shook now and then.

For Ichigo the world was pure haze around him. He'd yelled at master. He would never take him now, he'd send him off to someone else who would be terrible and mean and make him cry and then like to see him cry. Somehow that was worse than Master's insistence he not cry. He'd screamed at master who had taken him away from his Master and it was so terrible now that there was no way back. Master would be so angry, he'd be so very angry, and Ichigo was so scared of what he would do without master to protect him. He was alone, and nothing to show for what he was. He was nothing. He was a body floating through the haze of reality and nothing was going to change that. The others would come and no one would stop them, and he knew his life was worth less than nothing.

He gasped as he felt hands on his face lifting it up. He blinked and stared up into the one dark eye and he saw his Master, even if the eye patch was the wrong eye. It didn't matter. One eyed, strong, powerful, black haired, he was master, right? His eyes were still wet and he didn't want to be slapped yet at the same time he wanted some proof that this master was going to protect and keep him. His hands moved and he felt something touching the skin of his neck and his eyes went wide at the familiar sensation. His heart leapt and his breath began to speed up. He was accepting him? He was going to take care of him and love him and hurt him and hate him and everything?

Ichigo's hands went to the red leather collar that had been buckled around his neck, much looser than the previous black one. Zaraki had doubted what Yumichika had said. But the look on his face was almost blissful as his fingers gently danced along the leather and touched every part of the collar all the way around to the buckle in the back. Of course, he could remove it if he wanted. The buckle was easy enough to release. However, he wasn't trying to release it at all. He stared up at Zaraki and then lunged forward into his arms and began to weep again, quietly like before. Zaraki sighed. His head really hurt at the moment.

_Monday, May 19th, 9:00 pm_

_Dockside Bar_

Grimmjow sat at the bar with a jack and coke and stared at the mirror at himself. He wasn't the most attractive man in the world, hell the scars alone was enough to put someone off him. The entire right side of his face was covered in a massive tattoo of a jawbone to cover a massive nest of burn scars from when he had dove into a fire as a kid to rescue his dearest friend. He sighed, sipping again and realized he was being watched. He smiled as he watched a buxom woman sit down beside him. He had dyed green hair and red tattoos over her cheekbones.

"Come here often?" she purred into his ear in a sultry sounding voice.

"Of course," he said, grinning into his jack and coke. "Do you?"

"Nah, I heard about this blue haired man-whore that comes in here and gets drunk off his ass and often goes home with STD infested hookers. Figured I should step in and stop it," he said with a wry smile.

Grimmjow sighed. "Nel, really," he said shaking his head and setting down his drink. "What are you doing here? You never come to bars."

Nel nodded, her face turning serious as she sat down beside her childhood friend. Grimmjow Jagerjaquez and Nelliel Tu Oderschvank had grown up next door to each other in a heavily German settled community in the suburbs. Their parents were always at work and never at home, so the two had become friends. They kicked anyone's ass that messed with the other, and Nel, while a pretty face, was deadly as hell with her knives. After they got to be teens, they had been recruited by Aizen and quickly rose in the ranks. Things, however, had changed.

"Want a drink?" Grimmjow asked her as the bartender came over.

"I'll take a soda water, please," she told him and turned back to Grimmjow.

"Grimmy, I want out," she said.

Grimmjow nearly choked on his drink. "What? You don't just get out, you know that right?"

"I can't take it Grimm. I'm tired of watching what he does to these kids. I mean, look what happened after that bust. Nnoitra's completely gone off the handle, and Aizen is impossible to deal with because he's lost the Kurosaki kid. It was wrong what they did to that kid, and you know it. It is wrong what he does to the ones that are still there," she said, sipping the soda water slowly. "I've never been comfortable even knowing that there was human trafficking going on, even if my work is far away from it for the pharmaceutical business. I knew it was happening and didn't stop it. I can't…I can't watch any more kids have the light in their eyes die. I can't stand to see someone as vibrant as that Kurosaki kid turned into…into…what he became…again."

Grimmjow swallowed thickly. He'd known this would come soon. Nel was such a good hearted woman. She'd been a gentle child. To be honest, he'd been the rough one, the one that got pulled into Aizen's gang. It had been stupid. He'd been mucking around with ingredients for pipe bombs again. He loved to watch things explode, and his adoration of fireworks had led to him going off in the woods to set his own off and make things himself. He was fifteen when he'd blown up the shed in the woods with a fertilizer bomb. He didn't know it was stocked full of cocaine that bellowed to Sōsuke Aizen. He found out really quick that he had only two choices. Work for him as a bomb maker, or die. Luckily for Grimmjow, he was good, so he quickly gained respect and privileged. To keep an eye on him, Nel had come into the organization, though in an above board position alongside Tier Harribel as CEO and COO of Aizen's legitimate business enterprise.

Still, she knew what happened. Nel never came to the gatherings, and was never called on to do patrol duty or guard duty when they got the large shipments of guns, drugs, or people to be trafficked. Still, she knew what went on because it was etched deeply into Grimmjow's face.

For him, it began with the brat, the one that Aizen and Nnoitra were going ballistic over having lost to the feds. There was something about the way he fought him, a kid of sixteen at the time, and damn near laid him out. He was sure if they hadn't drugged him, they'd never have got him out. He thought he was like the rest. They did it now and then. They'd kidnap someone important's kid and hold them for a time until Aizen got what he needed, then they'd release them. They'd done that with a bunch before. Then, Nnoitra started running his mouth and messing with the kid, teasing him through the bars with his vulgarity. Of course, it was hilarious when he put Nnoitra's eye out. He shouldn't have taunted the boy so much. Still, as Grimmjow watched, Nnoitra's whole demeanor changed. He'd always been perverse and took advantage of his merchandise. There probably wasn't a boy that went through his division that hadn't been thrown to the ground by him at least once. He never touched the girls though, not once. After he got his hands on the kid, though, he became worse. Instead of just having his way with them, he started killing one now and then and they'd have to get rid of the body. Aizen chastised him. Nnoitra's comment was if he didn't find some other outlet, he might just kill their baby boy.

The man made Grimmjow's skin crawl. Of course, not a lick of it could show. He had to pretend to like the fucker. He had to lather on the praise and boost his ego. All of the Espada were incredibly acquiescent to whatever Nnoitra wanted. The reason was simple, they were all thugs, criminals of all types, but they weren't animals. They'd all seen what he'd done to the bodies of the ones he'd taken out his frustration on. It was unspoken that to keep it from happening, they tried to keep the bastard happy. For some, like Zommari and Barragan, it was about protecting the merchandise. Every boy he killed was ten grand they wouldn't get. For others like Grimmjow, it was about the fact he was torturing and murdering boys because he was annoyed and bored. However, Grimmjow didn't know who else saw things his way. Zommari and Barragan were vocal about having to bend to whatever Nnoitra wanted to keep the merchandise from getting damaged. The rest, Grimmjow wasn't sure.

"Nel, what brought this up?" he asked softly. "It's been almost fifteen years since we started this, Nel. We don't just walk away. You didn't want to walk away when you found out about the kid."

"I know and my heart is always going to ache because of it," she said with a sigh, chewing on her lip thoughtfully.

"What is it?" he asked finally.

"Grimm, I…I'm pregnant," she said with a sigh. "I don't want a baby born into this life."

He blinked and slammed the rest of the drink down. Well, that was a surprise. "I see."

"I want out and there's a boy that I want to help get out too. He's being used to gamble for A. He doesn't even know he's being used, and I can't see him hurt like that," she said with a soft sigh.

Grimmjow nodded. "Gimme a few days, okay?" he said. "I can't just take you off somewhere without a plan. I'd be dead when I got back."

"I want you to come, too," she said softly, looking up with her green eyes and smiling. "I want the father of my child with me."

Grimmjow's blue eyes went wide and his mouth opened before he passed out cold onto the floor beside the barstool.


	5. Tricking Salvation

**On Blade's Edge**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

_Tricking Salvation_

* * *

_Present_

_Monday, May 20th 2014_

_Somewhere in the Montana Wilderness_

After four years, Isshin Kurosaki was a broken man, to be honest. His brother in law wasn't much better. Kisuke Urahara spent more time in a bottle than he did out, and more than half the time he was out, he was high on something. It seemed that the world had contrived against the two men, and they spent their time moving from place to place, trying to avoid anyone who might give away their location to the feds or to Aizen's men. They had no choice. Karin and Yuzu were in danger if they were ever seen again. Isshin and Kisuke, however, failed to notice what was happening in front of their eyes.

Karin and Yuzu Kurosaki grew up. Four years had passed since their brother was kidnapped and they went on the run. Four years of painful days and nights with their family who felt at fault for his disappearance. Karin remembered vividly the soccer game four years before. She'd never forget hearing her brother scream for the first time in her life and watching him fall to the ones that came for him and being drug away, never to be seen for seven years by them. They weren't even really sure if he was really alive. Isshin and Kisuke assured the girls he was alive because Aizen wouldn't risk losing leverage over them.

Alive didn't mean much though, they were to find out. Four years had passed, and they were sixteen, the same age their brother had been. They worried over him still, and now, camped out in the outskirts of Montana, they had been woken in the middle of the night. They'd heard something in their father's tent next to them. Quietly both girls had snuck to the point where they could see through the threadbare portion of the camp. The old laptop their father kept close sat open playing a video, the generator providing power, and the satellite link they'd secured the day before providing the signal. The girls couldn't see what was playing but their father was sobbing into Kisuke's arms. That had been what had awoken them. The girls traded looks and waited. Kisuke slammed the laptop shut and after a couple hours, the two men had fallen asleep.

Karin snuck in and snatched the laptop. The battery had been charged by the generator, so it would last for them to see what had upset their father. There was only one thing that would upset their father to that degree. It had to do with their brother.

A few moments later the two girls had covered themselves and the glow from the laptop with their sleeping bag and flipped it open. Karin easily cracked the password even though it had changed monthly for four years. She knew what it would be. This month it was Ichigo's birthday combined with the date he was kidnapped. Fitting since this was the month he was kidnapped. The frozen image on the screen was an email account with a video embedded into it. The girls did and didn't want to watch, but at the same time it was necessary.

The video started from the beginning.

"Hello, my old friends," came a face they recognized vividly. It was Sōsuke Aizen, who since the day their brother disappeared they'd been trained to know on sight. "I hope you find this message well. I understand that you will come to believe I've murdered your son if I don't contact you regularly. Considering it has been four years this month, I thought I should let you see your son again, though…honestly, he isn't your son anymore. I can't tell you how pleased I've been with his progress." The man turned his head off screen. "Nnoitra?"

Aizen moved and another man grinned into the screen. Both girls knew him as well. They knew all the Espada on sight. His greasy black hair framed his pale face and one beady black eye stared at them. They knew him to be the head of the human trafficking division.

"Kisuke, Isshin, I hate to tell you, but this boy of yours is a fucking pain in my ass," he said, flipping up an eye patch to show of a horribly disfigured and sightless eye. "Put my fucking eye out the first day I got my hands on him, can you believe that shit?" Karin and Yuzu both smiled at each other. That sounded like their brother. "Then, of all things, the fucking brat bit me. I had to have two stitches in my goddamned cock. You know what, that fucking hurt like a motherfucker, and I've got piercings in my cock." Both girls paled. "Took me fucking three months to train him to suck cock right, fuck, man, you wouldn't believe how much he fought. Shit, I fucking put a ring through his pretty little prick to yank him around by and he still would resist me. Don't worry, I didn't damage him permanently. But that was almost three years ago now. So that's in the past, he's my baby boy now. I found the way to his obedience was through his heart, after all. Finest fucktoy I've ever had, you know. Didn't even have to knock his fucking teeth out, which surprised me after the biting incident." The man grinned widely. "Would you like to see him?" The man held up a chain and jingled it into the camera.

"Come on baby boy," he said, stepping back away from the screen as he yanked hard on the chain, bringing their brother, though nearly unrecognizable, into their view. Both gasped.

His head was bowed, and he was covered in bruises and marks, in fact blood was dripping from his face somewhere though they couldn't see his face. His upper body was bare, and they could see the nipples were pierced and linked to the chain in his collar and then in went down into the covering he wore around his waist. His belly button was surrounded by at least six piercings and there were other things pierced into his skin on his ribs and around his chest. Several chains and things ran down and jingled from the piercings in the surface of his skin.

"Show them your pretty face, baby boy," Nnoitra said, reaching up and pushing his head up and the girls both winced. Blood was steadily dripping from his lip where it looked that he'd had three lip piercings just put into it across the bottom; they had not been cleaned yet, it seemed. He had similar ones across the top, along with an abhorrent amount of rings in his eyebrows and ears. Nnoitra had cut his hair so it left his face open and all the piercings visible. His ears were a mess of metal that was hard to tell where they began and ended.

"I do so love piercings. And he's such a fun little subject to practice on. I've got a few wrong, but so far I haven't hurt him with them. Though a few he did lose some feeling for a while… Stick out your tongue, baby."

Ichigo's eyes were vacant, both girls could see that as he dropped open his jaw to show the three piercings in the tip of his tongue and the four barbells in the middle. "My favorite part. Holy fuck, does he give a good cocksucking now with those. Magical. You wouldn't believe how he begs me to let him suck my cock. Such a good little whore now, aren't you baby boy? Tell your daddy what a good little whore you are."

Ichigo's eyes didn't seem to move. "Master's good little whore," he said softly, barely moving his lips. "Master's baby boy," he said, and his eyes never did more than blink.

"Tell daddy what you'll do for me, baby boy," Nnoitra said into Ichigo's ear.

"Whatever Master says to do," Ichigo intoned in the same hollow sounding voice.

"What are you?" Nnoitra said, grabbing a handful of Ichigo's hair and pulling his head back. The girls noted he didn't even wince.

"Master's fucktoy. Nothing more," he said.

Nnoitra let go of his head and it fell forward. "Look at that, he is so amazing at the parties too, letting anyone I send to him fuck him senseless without a fight. Not that he has much sense anymore the rest of the time. I do give him a little bit of chemical assistance now and then, like today. But you know, all of this is working well. Complete obedience, that took a bit longer. I'd say it was last year before he quit trying to get away when I got everyone together to gang fuck him. He's come along well, can even take two of us at once. Of course, blood makes a great lube, you know. And he bleeds so pretty when I fuck him."

Nnoitra stepped back and pulled on the chain and drug him away without a word. Aizen moved back. "As you can see, quite alive, however, well is a debatable thing. You'll never get your son back, Isshin. He'll never be the same, so there's no use even thinking about trying to rescue him. He'll fight you to stay with Nnoitra now. I doubt he even remembers you anymore. So take this as a warning, Isshin, and you too, Kisuke, don't come back. I'm the only reason he's not dead, and the fact that Nnoitra adores torturing him. You're lucky; others Nnoitra plays with don't fare as well. Good day, Isshin, Kisuke. Hope you are well," he said and the video cut off.

Karin was silent and Yuzu was sobbing silently into Karin's shoulder. Karin sighed and closed the laptop. "I've got to take it back. Stay quiet," she said to her weeping sister. A moment later she returned and continued to comfort her for an hour. Her own eyes remained dry. No, there was one thing in her mind at that moment. She wanted to kill them. All of them.

Three years later, Karin had grown a lot. She and Yuzu were both nineteen, nearly twenty this year. Karin had her black hair cropped short, kept neat around her head in a style very similar to the way her brother had worn his hair seven years ago. Her eyes were hard, though.

"Go!" she yelled across the expanse between the two redwood trees.

On the other side Yuzu stood. Her hair was long, tied up in a high ponytail, and her eyes, like her sister's, had hardened. She stood now on a limb, clinging to a grappling hook attached to a silk rope. She wore a pair of bicycle shorts and a sports bra, like her sister across from her. She wore bright pink while her sister wore red. She spun the hook over her head and aimed it at the limb Karin was standing on where it snapped around it and secured perfectly on the first shot. She yanked on it a second before leaping without a thought and swinging toward the huge tree. As the swing came close to the trunk of the tree she let go and took a crossbow from her waist and shot it at the limb her sister stood on. The spear embedded and she swung out, landing with her booted feet against the trunk of the tree. She used the cable and ran the rest of the way, jumping the last expanse to land opposite her sister. Karin beaconed her and she leaped at her, narrowly missing slicing open Karin's cheek with the knife that had popped out from the toe of the boot. Karin jumped and used her momentum to push off Yuzu's shoulder with her foot and grabbed the next branch to swing up in one move.

"Fucking monkey," Yuzu muttered under her breath as she took a run at the trunk again, using it to bounce herself up to the next limb, landing to face her again.

"Girls! Lunchtime!" came Kisuke's voice below.

Karin sighed. "Always when we get started." She looked down, at least fifty feet to the forest floor. "Okay Unc, we'll be down."

Yuzu grinned. "Race you?" and she leaped down, snatching the rope again and bouncing down the trunk.

"Oh no you don't, bitch," Karin said, leapfrogging her way down the branches trying to get ahead of her sister.

To the chagrin of both, they landed at about the same time. Kisuke shook his head. "Does training always have to be a competition?" he asked.

Karin smiled, stretching her lean body and popping her back. "Fuck yes," she said. "What'd you fix?"

Kisuke had spread a blanket with three plates and a small lunch. He'd made a salad and rice balls. Some habits never changed. Both girls sat down and ripped into their lunches ravenously. They'd trained since breakfast.

"Where's goatface?" Karin asked around a mouth of rice.

"He got a message from one of our contacts saying something had happened in Aizen's organization. Guess the feds made a big bust, so he went to meet him," he said with a nod of his head.

Three years ago, the girls had gone to their father and slapped him. They demanded that they do so something to help their brother, revealing they'd seen the video. They wouldn't let it stand, they said. So, they pulled Kisuke out of the bottle and put their time in hiding to use. Kisuke and Isshin began to train the girls in everything they knew and then began pulling favors in to train them in things they didn't know. Both girls were expert acrobats and gymnasts now. Yuzu had been trained in seduction and covert assassination, knives, poisons and disposal by a Russian friend of Kisuke's that had been a KGB double agent. Karin had been trained in firearms, explosives, and disguise by an American CIA agent that Kisuke had brought in. Both had also been trained in several forms of martial arts and rudimentary nursing skills.

Isshin himself hadn't been idle. After four years spent in fear, he realized he'd let his son down and it couldn't continue. At first he wanted to go at it alone, but the girls were their mother's daughters. They wanted in. They wanted to get revenge. No, Isshin wasn't using his daughters for revenge. They were using him, he realized early on. It wasn't his choice, though. If he didn't help them, they'd go to someone else, and they couldn't trust anyone.

After lunch, the girls went back to their training until their heard the shrill whistle of their father. Both came down to see what had happened.

Isshin, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and looking no more imposing than an average joe stood talking to Kisuke. The girls came over and he smiled. For the first time in years, their father smiled at them in a way that reached his eyes.

"They busted Nnoitra's division. Completely decimated his merchandise and Ichigo was among them. He's with the feds at a safe house. I've already contacted Kuchiki through the channels he left open for me. We should know where by morning," he said and tears were already falling from his eyes.

The girls glanced at each other in shock and ran forward and embraced their father and Kisuke. Yuzu was sobbing already, and for the first time in seven years, Karin cried.

_Flashback_

_Sunday, September 22nd, 2007_

_Coyote Starrk's Home_

The walls were crumbling at night. He couldn't stop the demon from pulling them down anymore. He didn't have the strength. So the nights became a myriad of dreams and nightmares of the past seven years. Feelings like power and hope had left so long ago that he had forgotten what they were. Yet, sometimes, a memory surged to the surface that reminded him that he hadn't always been a mindless slave. It reminded him that he had been a thinking person.

It had been Starrk, Coyote Starrk, was his name. He'd been the last time Ichigo had felt human at all. Starrk ran arms and ammunition for the Espada. He had so many contacts, though; he rarely left his house where he lived with his little sister Lillynette. To be honest, he was one lazy mother fucker. He admitted it though. Lillynette was the same age Ichigo's sisters were, and that alone was enough to make Ichigo happier than he had been in so long.

Covered in a robe and hat, Ichigo stood beside Nnoitra in the hallway of the apartment complex that Starrk lived in. Since his sister lived with him, he didn't live in Aizen's compound like Nnoitra and some of the others did. Underneath the robe, he wore next to nothing. The leash was looped through the rings and Nnoitra still held it. They'd gotten more than one stare as they came up on the elevator. It didn't help that what little of Ichigo's flesh that could be seen was bruised or marked in some fashion. Nnoitra knocked on the door and a short girl with lime green hair opened it. It was summer, he supposed, but then Ichigo lost track of time. Was it really? No, it couldn't be, not anymore. Who knew?

"The fuck?" the girl muttered. She looked around fourteen years old. "Bro, I'm pretty sure it's for you, get your lazy ass up."

There was a grumble from inside and a man in a pair of boxer shorts came into view. He recognized him from the night Nnoitra had pierced him in front of everyone. So this was Starrk. He hadn't known which one he was. It wasn't like it mattered. He kept his eyes on the floor as Nnoitra made sure to flick his wrist to make him step forward.

"Ah, yes, forgot that was today," he muttered, motioning Nnoitra to come into the kitchen and sit.

Nnoitra went in and sat down tugging on the leash now and then to hurry Ichigo. He no longer dug his heels in on him. There was no way he wanted him to yank as hard as he could on it now. Nnoitra looked up at him and frowned.

"Get on the fucking floor," he growled and pulled harshly on the chain, eliciting a painful whimper from him as he dropped to his knees beside Nnoitra.

Lillynette glanced behind her at the scene and then to Starrk who had sat down with his coffee. "How long will you be, Nnoi?" he asked, sipping it and completely ignoring Ichigo and his sister.

"Two weeks, I think. Are you sure you want to keep him here?" Nnoitra said, glancing at the girl behind the breakfast bar. "I mean…he's fully trained now. One little tug…" he said, yanking on the chain enough that Ichigo had to drop his forehead to the ground with a thump to keep from having the rings ripped out. "He'll do anything you want."

"_Si, si, mi amigo_. I know. It will be fine. My sister is at school most the time. He will be fine entertainment while she's gone. You have the keys to his…ah…accessories?" he said, reaching across the table.

Nnoitra nodded. "Don't damage the goods though, I'll see you in two weeks," he said, dropping a small ring of small keys into Starrk's hand and putting the leather leash grip into his hand. Nnoitra got up and left, shutting the door behind him.

"Coyote…what the fuck is this?" Lillynette asked as she came around and stood next to where Ichigo had crumbled to the floor. He was shaking now. This was the first time Nnoitra had left him with anyone else. He knew what to expect with Nnoitra. He didn't know with this man, though he seemed kind.

"Ah, yes, _perdoname_, I didn't tell you about this. Nnoitra was going to Kyoto and we were all at breakfast together. He commented how he didn't want to take him, and Zommari had commented to Barragan that maybe he should borrow him while he was gone, so I asked if he could come stay here," he said with a shrug, the chains jingling a bit.

Lillynette poked Ichigo's thigh with her foot. "Hey, sit up," she said.

Ichigo slowly sat up, wincing as the chains clinked as they loosened. She frowned at that, watching as the leash shortened as he sat up. "The fuck is that…" she muttered, grabbing the chain at his throat and pulling to see what it was attached to. He gasped and whined as it tugged harshly on the nipples and the piercing in his cock. He blinked away tears at the sudden pain. She dropped the chain and he huffed quick breaths as he tried to breathe through it.

"_Mi amor_," he said to her and got up. "Don't touch it yet. You'll hurt him."

Ichigo swallowed as Starrk kneeled in front of him, starting to panic. "_Por favor_, I'll take it off. I know what he's done with it, _bien_?"

Ichigo looked between him and the girl who was staring at him. He nodded, relaxing back on his heels a bit and letting his legs spread apart. Starrk nodded and pushed the robe off his shoulders and Lillynette made some sort of strange noise in her throat but didn't say anything. "Is the lock down below?" he asked Ichigo who nodded without hesitation.

Starrk nodded and lifted up the front of the covering he wore. Lillynette did gasp then. "The fuck…" she muttered. Coyote smiled. She had such a dirty mouth for a young girl. He tucked the covering up into the waist of it to reveal the cage and the lock around it that kept the chain that ran through the ring secure. He quickly unlocked it and released it.

"Lilly, my love, can you release the two up there, I'd rather guide the chain myself than pull it from there," he said softly.

She reached over where the two twin chains attached to the nipple rings and unhooked them with no small amount of effort. Starrk threaded them down and through the lower ring and back up and finally pulled the leash free from the final ring in the collar. Ichigo wanted to sigh in relief not to have the pressure anymore, but when Nnoitra took it off, it meant he was going to be in pain in some other fashion.

"Now, any other locks? There are several keys here," he commented.

Ichigo shook his head. The other keys were for the bedroom. He smiled and patted Ichigo's shoulder which caused a flinch at the touch. Lillynette looked up at her brother with an accusing look. He rolled his eyes and reached down and pulled Ichigo to his feet and sat him in the seat Nnoitra had just left.

"Now, some breakfast?" he asked and Ichigo looked nervously between the two people. He felt exposed even though he wore more now than he did in Aizen's compound most the time.

"Coyote, who the fucking hell is he?" Lillynette asked, coming over and pulling Ichigo's face to look at her because he was avoiding looking at anything except his hands and the floor. "He's trussed up and pierced to hell and back. And what the _fuck_ is with that leashing shit?"

Starrk sighed and stepped into the kitchen and began cooking breakfast. "He is a prisoner that Aizen took. His father and uncle are significant."

"Aizen doesn't do shit like this, you told me he didn't do anything to his prisoners and he let them go back to their families," she said, tipping Ichigo's head and examining the earrings.

Starrk paused as he cooked the bacon for them. He placed it and the eggs on the table with the three plates and utensils. "Yes, he is a special case. His uncle is Aizen's half-brother. If he is released, Aizen has no more control over his brother. He would kill anyone else, but it is his brother, after all. In a twisted act of revenge, though, he gave him to Nnoitra to do as he pleases as long as he stays alive."

Lillynette sat down across from her brother and started eating angrily. She saw that their guest wasn't moving. She looked to Starrk.

"_Mi amor_," he said gently and tapped the table in front of Ichigo. He looked up slowly, not making eye contact. Was this all an act? When the girl left was he going to be as cruel as Nnoitra or worse? "Please, eat."

Ichigo nodded, and slowly ate about half the food before he could eat no more. Nnoitra didn't allow him as much. He put his fork and knife down and folded his hands again. He hadn't been scared since the day after he bit Nnoitra. He was scared now. He knew with Nnoitra that acts of kindness were followed with more cruelty than ever before.

"What's your name?" Lillynette asked, looking at the top of his orange head. He looked up at her with wide eyes and didn't say anything.

She glanced at her brother. "Ichigo is his name," he said softly, smiling at him.

Ichigo truly had no idea what to expect while he was here. So he just instead looked down as soon as he could, feeling incredibly out of place and unsure of what to do. He waited and after a while the girl left to go to school and he felt Starrk put a hand on his shoulder.

"I asked you here because I knew that Zommari was going to ask for it. I'm ranked higher than him, so I knew that Nnoitra would allow you come stay with me instead of him. Zommari is cruel and heartless. You do not deserve what you have had happen to you, _mijo_. So, while I cannot change what is happening, I can at least give you a reprieve. While here, you aren't expected to do anything. Please, don't try and leave, it would be detrimental."

Two weeks passed that were honestly the best Ichigo could remember. It took a couple days but finally he talked to the siblings and played games and watched TV and felt normal for once. His back was healed for once, and he had only fading bruises to remind him of Nnoitra's hands. The last day he stood in the robe Nnoitra had sent him in, wearing the meager wrap around his waist again. Starrk came into the bedroom he'd been given to sleep in alone and sighed.

"_Perdoname_, I'm sorry, I must replace this," he said, and Ichigo knew he meant the chains. He nodded and smiled, trying his best to not show the fear coursing through his frame. He didn't want them back. He wanted to stay here, with Starrk and Lillynette, where he wouldn't be hurt.

"I know. And…thank you."

An hour later he was led by the chain harshly back through the lobby of the apartment building with a fresh bruise rising on his cheek. Nnoitra was in a foul mood because apparently the last two weeks had been less than productive and he was irate. No, he was more than irate. For the first time since he was in the cages, Ichigo was scared of him, actually in fear of his life. He was jerked and yanked every chance Nnoitra got until he was back in their room where he stripped him and flogged him harsher than he'd ever done so before. There was no pause in the strikes, no words, no taunting. He simply lay burning strike after burning strike across his flesh, and unlike before, Ichigo could feel the skin splitting. He knew better than to scream but it was too much, he was pushed finally to screaming in pain as the flog's sound changed and he felt splashing. He finally felt woozy and light headed, and he could tell until there was blood running, not just dripping, down both his sides into the sheets. He was on the barest edge of consciousness. Finally, Nnoitra sat down beside his head with a cigarette and growled under his breath.

"Oh, fucking bitch. I cannot believe she pulled that shit on me. Fuck," he said, taking a deep drag and spewing the smoke above his head. Ichigo's breath wasn't steady yet and he wasn't entirely sure he could stay conscious. He was pretty sure there was a lot more blood than safe for him leaking from his back and legs. "There's a fucking reason I'm gay. And to try and pull that seduction shit on me, oh I could have ripped her fucking ovaries out through her throat."

Ichigo knew he was going on one of his rants about women again. Nnoitra hated everything about women, it seemed. From their curves, to their breasts, to their nasty fish smelling holes, as he put it, he hated them. Nothing pissed him off worse than a woman trying to come onto him. It always initiated a sound beating for Ichigo afterward. Ichigo had no idea why, but whatever this woman had done had set him off in a rage worse than any he'd ever seen. He whimpered into the bed and tried to keep from passing out.

"And she looked like her, too. Same fucking red-orange hair, just like your disgusting mop. No wonder I like beating the fuck outta you. You remind me of the hoe. Who the fuck decides to make their thirteen year old kid fuck them? Really? Just because my dad left her skanky ass…" he said, pulling off the cigarette again. "Then she has the fuckin' gall to be surprised when I ratted her whore ass out. Like I should have been thanking her for _letting_ me fuck her instead of reporting her nasty ass for fucking raping me. I'm glad she got shanked her first week in jail. Happens a lot to stupid fuckers who fuck their own kids. Stupid fucking bitch," he muttered, and Ichigo turned his head because his voice had changed. He might have cared more if his eyes were chasing the black patches that were dancing in front of his eyes. Nnoitra swallowed thickly, and Ichigo wondered if he wasn't on the verge of tears. "Stupid fucking bitch." He leaned over and crushed the cigarette out violently in the ash tray and lit another. Ichigo had never seen him smoke more than one at a time, and only between the time he beat him and fucked him.

There was a knock at the door. "Go away," he yelled and sucked another lungful of smoke into him.

The bedroom door opened a moment later and Ichigo could see it was the one with the blue hair. "Nnoitra, what the fuck is wrong with you?" he said, wide eyed and saw the state Ichigo was in.

"Shit fuck, what the hell, man," he said, coming over and peeling one of Ichigo's eyes open the rest of the way. Ichigo's eye rolled and he tried to focus on the man with the tattooed face and bright blue hair. His eyes, beautiful blue eyes, Ichigo thought, they were lined with concern. How strange, he thought to himself. "Fuck, man, I'll get Szayel. You can't beat him to death! Wasn't it enough you killed your goddamned contact?"

Nnoitra rolled his eyes, but glanced back behind him and blinked, a little shocked at what he'd done, it seemed. "Bitch was trying to fuck with me. I can't stand that shit. Tried to feel me up. No woman touches my shit, you know that. She should have kept her fucking hands to herself if she didn't want to die." Ichigo's world was hazy. "Uh, yeah, get Szayel, I…might have gone a bit overboard…" he heard and the bed moved.

Again he felt his eye opened and he stared into the one eye of Nnoitra's face. His face was lined with something Ichigo didn't know. "Fuck it…" he muttered. "Hurry the fuck up, Grimm…"

Grimmjow shook his head. "Fuck, man, this is bad…the bleeding's not stopping," he muttered leaving quickly. "He's going into shock, or some shit, man."

Nnoitra kneeled down beside him and ran his hand over his head gently. "Fuck…dammit. Why do I have to be so goddamned fucked up?" he muttered, stroking Ichigo's head. Ichigo's mind was slipping and he wasn't really sure what was real and what was imagined. "I've always got to hurt the things I love the most," he heard distantly and the world slipped away into numb darkness.

Sometime later, Ichigo woke to feel a pinch in his arm. "Christ Nnoitra. You have to be careful; you can't just let him bleed like this. He's gonna need stitches, dammit…even if it wasn't the blood loss, that much beating sent him into shock!" Ichigo couldn't be bothered, really didn't care to be bothered, though and fell back into a dreamless sleep.

_Present_

_Monday, May 19th, 2014 – 10 pm_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Zaraki had no idea how exactly he was supposed to deal with what was happening to him and the kid. Well, he kept calling him a kid because he acted like one, of course. Now, at dinner time, he sat at the table and Ichigo had refused to sit in a chair. He would only sit beside his leg on the floor and refused to speak at all since the earlier incident. Renji and Rukia had opted to stay, and there were people en route from Japan to see if they could help remind him of his life before. Before the end of dinner, Captain Kuchiki came in. Rukia had greeted him at the door, already knowing he was coming. He glared at Zaraki as he came in.

"I thought you were supposed to be helping him not act like a slave, Zaraki," Byakuya commented, glancing at the orange haired boy by his leg.

Rukia shook her head. "Nii-sama, we've been trying. It is just taking a lot longer than we thought. He can't be made to change everything all at once, it was just too much. So we're going slower."

Byakuya came over and kneeled beside Zaraki on the side Ichigo was sitting. He didn't look at the captain. "Ichigo?" he asked and still he didn't respond.

Zaraki sighed and put a hand on his head, gently turning him to face the other captain. He went easily with the motion. "Please, talk to him, can you?" he asked. Zaraki had run out of ideas on ways to convince him of that fact.

Ichigo didn't say anything, but he looked near to Byakuya's face. Byakuya didn't touch him, of which Zaraki was glad. "Ichigo, I got a message to your father. They're on their way here, and should be here by tomorrow night. Do you remember your father and your two sisters, Karin and Yuzu? And your Uncle Kisuke?" he asked quietly.

Ichigo's eyes locked immediately onto Byakuya's at his words and went impossibly wide and he started to shake his head franticly. "No…no…no…they can't be here, they can't…they can't….see me...don't…" He then turned and crawled up onto Zaraki's lap and looked up at him with wide eyes. "No…don't let them, master, please, make them go away, make them all go away, I just want you and don't want them to take me away…I love you, sir," he whined, and at that moment, the towering, massive man that was known as Ken Zaraki, might just have done anything he asked.

Zaraki had never been so affected in his life. He'd always claimed that love was a thing for people who couldn't stand to be alone. Yet, here he was, staring into brown eyes that were reflecting the light around them like mirrors, and he wanted to do everything that he requested, and make everything happen he ever desired. At first, he'd convinced himself that he had an attachment to him like he did to Yachiru. He was a kid that needed protection, which was it. He did a good job protecting Yachiru, and made her needs met and her desires achievable. But this, no this was different in another way. He wasn't even sure it was a sexual thing, though he had to admit, as far as guys went, he was attractive. No, it was like he would do anything to make sure he was happy, and his heart, something he didn't know he had, was aching because he couldn't do that. He was faced with an enemy that he didn't know how to handle. There was no solid punch to the gut that was going to fix this situation. There was no way cutting someone's throat was going to solve it. This was an enemy within, and he wanted to destroy it. Only, he didn't know how.

"Why?" Zaraki asked. "Please, why don't you want to see them?"

Ichigo's eyes looked at him steadily for a long moment. "I…I'm not their family anymore. I'm not their son, brother, nephew anymore, I'm a slut, a whore, a slave, I'm nothing…not anymore." He was starting to cry again. "I…I can't think by myself, I've forgotten how to do anything except…except…what I'm made to do…I…I'm not anything but a body to be used and beaten to satisfy others, I…I'm not that person anymore and it will kill them…"

Zaraki smiled and put a hand on his cheek and tipped his head up gently. "And the fact that you care so much about you…Ichigo…it means you are the same person you were seven years ago. You want to save them from the pain. You are trying to protect them, and you gotta stop, you gotta let us, and them, help you get back to yourself. You're not going to be same person they knew, that can't happen. But there's a new you in there, someone that wants to live. And you gotta let it out, and let someone in."

Ichigo swallowed hard and looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, his mind reeling. "Can…can…I let you in?" he finally said quietly.


	6. Distance

**Blade's Edge**

* * *

A/N: Sorry about the first time I posted this, dunno what I was doing, guess I was asleep. Fixed the breaks in it and forgot to say chapter three has an added scene at the end with Shiro in it you might want to go back and look at. There's a ton of typos but I'm planning on adding more to this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Six**

_Distance_

* * *

_Present_

_Tuesday, May 20th, 2014 -8:00 pm_

_En Route to Casino de Las Noches_

Grimmjow stood with a cigarette outside A's quarters. He was picking him and Nnoitra up for a dinner meeting with Aizen. Zommie, Barragan, Nel and Harribel were already at the club waiting for them. A came out with the boy in tow. Ulquiorra and Szayel were on assignment.

"What are you bringing him for?" he asked, eyeing the short fifteen year old boy. He had blonde hair and strange violet eyes. He kind of gave Grimmjow the creeps. To be honest, the kid kinda creeped everyone out.

"They got slots, he can get me some bank while I'm there," he said, turning his dark circled eyes to him with a shady grin. Grimmjow gave him a strained smile. The guy looked so greasy all the time, his spiked black hair looking always greasy and his face was always with constant stubble like he never shaved. He was slightly fat, and he constantly gorged himself when given the chance, but he didn't eat much at all if he had to pay for it. He'd never seen such a greedy bastard in his life.

"Whatever, man, let's just go get Nnoitra," he said with a sigh.

"How is that stupid fucker?" A said as the boy slid in the back beside him, leaving the front open for Nnoitra to sit. "Dumbass loses his plaything. What he gets for loaning him out like that. I don't lone my boy out. That's just asking for trouble."

Grimmjow's back stiffened a bit. "Oh? And you're so much different than him?" he asked. Grimmjow's "boys" were often his security or assistants. He never treated them like shit, even dumbass Di Roy who was quite possibly dumber than an actual box of rocks.

"I take care of my boy here, don't I, Wonderweiss?" he asked, patting the young blond on the back.

Wonderweiss was staring out the window blankly, while one hand petted the baby chick in his pocket. "Don't forget to count the cards, count them twice, count them," he said slowly. "Count the cards, count the cards, count. Shut up, bitch, leave the kid alone. Shut up."

A smiled. The kid was what most people called an idiot savant. A thought he was stupid about everything but gambling. He was a rare find though. He'd been in Nnoitra's merchandise, and it had only been by chance that A had been at the warehouse that day. Nnoitra was commenting on the useless freak that they'd have to get rid of and A went to look out of curiosity. He had been fascinated immediately. The kid was obviously autistic. A had seen it before, and he had almost gotten his hands on a savant once before. He had grown up with brother that had autism, though he was unfortunately not also afflicted with savant syndrome. Sadly, because of course every autistic kid wasn't Rain Man. However, that was exactly what he was looking for. He wanted one to use in his gambling rings. So he wanted him, and Nnoitra let him have him. To his glee, he found out the kid was a marvel with numbers and probability. He had an annoying habit of repeating things at terrible moments, but it wasn't like he even understood what he was doing.

In Hong Kong, the brat had found a chick running in the street. He hadn't wanted to let him keep it, but A kept the kid happy. He'd only been able to say one thing when they found him, and that was Wonderweiss. They weren't sure if it was his name or not, but he seemed to at least look like he was responding when he heard it. A turned and handed him a container of gummy snacks. He took them and ate them silently as he stared out the window.

"Do you feed him anything but sugar, A?" Grimmjow asked with a sigh. It seemed like every time he saw the boy he was eating some sort of candy or soda.

"Keeps him alert and awake," A said with a smirk. "Don't want him getting tired while he's working, you know. I keep him in a diaper too. He can't get up while he's working either. So don't have to worry about him moving or losing his spot."

Grimmjow curled his lip as he pulled up outside the bar where Nnoitra was standing outside smoking a cigarette. "That's fucking disgusting, man," he commented.

"Price I pay to get what I want," he said as Nnoitra dropped into the car in a huff.

"What's up, dumb ass?" asked A from behind.

"Fuck you, A," he commented, crossing his arms and ignoring him.

"Aw, poor baby lost his toy, is he mad?" A teased him with a kick to the back of his seat.

"Is he mad, lost his toy," Wonderweiss echoed hollowly.

"Shut that fucker up, A. Or I'm going to put a bullet in his head," Nnoitra said with a growl.

Grimmjow sighed. "Nnoi, look I get that you're upset, but what's the big deal? You didn't get this upset when you killed the albino boy."

"He was different. Already cut the prick's nuts off, if you remember, after I caught him fucking my baby boy. No one fucks with my baby boy without my permission, especially not another fucking slave," he said, looking out the window.

Grimmjow glanced at him sideways as he turned onto the main highway. "Dude, Nnoi, you sound like you actually cared about him."

Nnoitra sighed and didn't say anything. Behind him A giggled. "Fuck, Nnoi was in _love_ with his fuck toy? Oh god, I can't believe this shit…"

Nnoitra actually didn't rise to the bait and refused to say anything more the rest of the ride. That more than anything said more to Grimmjow than anything else the freaky bastard could have said. They pulled into the large casino and he grabbed Nnoitra as A and pulled him to the side.

"The fuck is going on Nnoi? Never seen you like this," he said with a frown.

Nnoitra started to push him away, but Grimmjow held onto him. "Come on," he said.

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, yes, I think…for the first time in my life, I loved something," he said almost embarrassed by the admittance. "I did horrible things to him. And I couldn't stop because I fucked up beyond measure. And I didn't know it until I had him taken from me and it was all my fucking fault. If I hadn't given him to Ken, if I'd just taken him with me, then I wouldn't have lost the only thing that made this fucking miserable ass existence worth living."

Grimmjow nodded and led him into the casino. "Fair enough," he said softly.

_8:30 pm_

_Visored Safe House_

"There's a meeting going on now," Hiyori said, skidding into the main room. "Almost all the fuckers are there except a couple. We could manage to get a few of them separate, and take them out of play, at least for a while," she said frantically. "Casino de Las Noches."

"Move," Shiro said with a grin. "We can see if some of the bastards come out to smoke or something. Gather the team. Bring back something I can use," he said with a nod at them.

Within minutes, all of nine members of the team were loaded and heading to the casino. Shiro sat down and hoped beyond hope they'd bring back Nnoitra. He was itching to severe several pieces of his anatomy from his body.

_9:30 pm_

_Casino de Las Noches Club and Bar_

Grimmjow sat through some of the more annoying parts of the meeting and felt like he was out of place even more now than ever before. No, something was different, and he glanced at Nel who he noted kept looking at A's boy as he repeatedly won at the various games. He knew that her maternal instincts had kicked in, and that was a huge part of her need to help the boy.

"I said, how are munitions?" Aizen said, pulling him from his thoughts.

Grimmjow paled at having been caught not paying attention. "Well, we're waiting on a large shipment of military grade C4 and the Nitro shipment is late, they got delayed by the coast guard. Should arrive within the week, however."

Aizen glared at him but nodded. "You are distracted."

Grimmjow shook his head. "Nothing, sir, just didn't get a lot of sleep last night, that's all," he said with a sigh.

"Make sure you aren't distracted any further, Grimmjow," he said and turned to Zommari."

Grimmjow excused himself when Nel got up and walked toward where the blond haired charge of the gambler was seated at a craps table.

"Wonderweiss?" she asked. He looked up without look at her. "It is break time, come here," she said softly, noting that no one was really paying attention to them.

Grimmjow followed her, at a distance, and slipped out the back door after her into the alley. He looked left and right and back to her.

"What now? Tell me you have a plan?" he pleaded.

She smiled and said. "Not really, I just…I saw the chance and I had to take it…" she said, looking down at the boy who was jumping from foot to foot and muttering as he petted the chick in his jacket pocket.

"Well, hello there," came a voice from the shadows. Grimmjow went for his gun, which of course had been check in at the front of the casino, before he turned to face a young man with straight blonde hair. "What do we have here? Some of Aizen's crew?"

Nel pulled the boy to her and put a hand over her own belly. "Please, don't, just leave us, we're…" she started only to jump as she backed into someone else, a tall man with silver hair.

"Hmm, I think you need to come with us," the silver haired man said.

Grimmjow looked between the door, his girl, and these strangers. He had a better shot with them, he figured than he did with Aizen. He swallowed and put up his hands and nodded to Nel. She did the same. Grimmjow felt a gun at his back and he walked forward getting into the van followed by the young boy and Nel. Inside there were more people, and a short blond girl came forward. She started to tie them up and Wonderweiss balked at it.

"Please, don't, he'll be fine, just leave him alone, he has autism, he won't even remember being in here," Nel pleaded.

The silver haired man nodded to the blond and she left him alone, tying up both Grimmjow and Nel, then blindfolding and gagging them. The ride didn't take long and they were led blindly along, surprisingly, they kept them from tripping or falling. Both were pushed into a seat and they heard mumbled discussion before their blindfolds and gags were removed.

Grimmjow blinked into the light and then gasped. "Dude, you're dead," he said with a gasp.

Nel looked at her brother then at the albino that stood in front of them in a cherry blossom covered kimono. She too gasped in shock. She saw that Wonderweiss had been sat down at a table with some paper and crayons where he was busy writing numbers repeatedly.

"That's what Nnoitra would like to believe," he said, tipping his head to the side.

Grimmjow shook his head. "No, I fucking helped dump your goddamned body, you were as dead as a fucking doornail."

Shiro smiled and shrugged his pale shoulders and lifted his head. "Apparently the fates had other plans for me," he said, motioning at the deep red mark across his throat.

"What do you want with us?" Nel said.

"You were convenient. For the past few years, I've been taking chunks of Aizen's organization apart. Piece by piece, bit by bit, and we've progressed to the stage of disposing of the Espada," he said with a shrug.

Grimmjow's eyes went wide. "Please, you can kill me, I probably deserve it for some of the sick and twisted shit I've seen and didn't do anything about, but let Nel go, please, she's pregnant, and the kid is a victim just like you were," he said.

"Grimm, no! I'm not having this baby without you!" she said, turning wild green eyes on him. "If you kill him, kill me too, and just make it quick, that's all I ask."

Shiro looked slightly shocked. He glanced back to Shinji. Shinji shook his head. "They were in the alley together and weaponless," he said.

"You were leaving," Shiro said. "You were trying to run from Aizen, weren't you?" he said, glancing between them.

Nel nodded with tears in her eyes. "I…I didn't know most of what went on, you know. I was in the business end, but it hurt Grimm so much and I saw how it hurt him every time I asked what was wrong and he wouldn't tell me because he said I shouldn't know what happened. But we had no way out, neither of us. And we…we left this time knowing our time was limited and we wouldn't live long but we had to try. I…I don't want my baby born into that hell…"

Shiro frowned deeply and looked at his crew. This was unexpected. And now he had to decide how to handle it.

_Flashback_

_Wednesday, January 7th, 2009_

_Espada Compound_

The world was sluggish and surreal, and had Ichigo's mind been functioning fully, he would have recognized a nightmare for what it was.

"Come on you fucking slut," Nnoitra muttered as he took every moment to yank on him. It had been two years so far. Nnoitra was in a foul mood because there was a meeting concerning some of his less than savory activities with his product.

They came to the meeting room and Nnoitra shoved him into the side area where some of the other "pets" waited on their masters. Since Nnoitra had taken Ichigo on permanently, the others had opted to do the same thing. It made Ichigo sick because he'd been the first to be demeaned and treated this way.

He sat on his knees, trying to pull the leash down a bit to take pressure off his nipples and cock ring. He couldn't move his hands from his knees or Nnoitra would tie him to the foot of the table instead of letting him sit to the side. He looked over. There were Barragan's two pets. They wore no markings and wore instead a matching yukata of white with blue lacing. They were both women, and Ichigo thought their names were Loly and Menoly. He seemed to remember them having been in the cages and thought Barragan had taken them, then. Sitting beside them chasing imaginary things in the air was Zommari's boy, Luppi. He was a slight, tiny thing, and Zommari kept him so high on LSD that the kid didn't know where he was at a given time. Then there was A's boy, the kid with the thing for numbers. He just kind of stared into space.

He dropped his head and wondered why would these things happen to these people? What had they ever done to deserve such treatment? What had he done? He shifted uncomfortably on his legs. The backs of his thighs were covered in welts from last night. It had been after Aizen had called him about the death of four of his boys last week. It had been when a bust happened to one of his warehouses, and he lost about fifty head. He'd taken it out brutally on Ichigo and then took off to the warehouse where he ended up killing four boys before he was done.

"Nnoi, I understand you were upset, but decimating product like that isn't permissible. I look the other way most the time…but I have to dispose of the bodies," Aizen said. "I allowed you to have the boy there to keep this from happening."

Nnoitra glanced over to make sure that Ichigo hadn't moved. He hadn't. "I know, boss but if I hadn't done that, I woulda killed him. And you want him alive."

"If you can't stop killing my merchandise, I might not care anymore if he lives or dies, Nnoi," Aizen said glaring at him. "Or I could give him to someone else. He might enjoy that more considering the way you treat him."

Zommari laughed. "You know it is so silly to beat him so much, my little one over there doesn't need that. A few pills and he's good…"

Barragan smiled at Zommari across the table. "My girls need nothing like that. They do as I wish," he said, glancing over at them. They smiled and waved back at him. "And A keeps that kid nice and happy over there. You should learn a thing or two, Nnoi, and stop being so bloody violent," he said with a roll of his eyes.

Nnoitra shook his head. "Want to see what happens when you train a bitch like this?" he said, narrowing his eyes at them. They didn't understand. Sure, he could dope him up, or he could keep him happy like Barragan's whores. That wasn't the point. He was certain that none of them would come and do the things he made his boy do. "Baby boy, now," he said sternly.

Ichigo swallowed, dropping to all fours and crawling over to where Nnoitra sat. Nnoitra grabbed his hair and lifted his head painfully. "Show smart ass Barragan here what a lovely little cocksucker you turned into. He says he don't dig boys, but I think he'll make an exception for your pretty pussy of a mouth."

Nnoitra looked over Ichigo's form and smirked at Barragan. Barragan glared at him. Nnoitra knew that he wouldn't turn down the opportunity in this situation. Nnoitra knew that Barragan liked boys, a lot. He was one of the only people that knew that he had a penchant for young boys, and for rent boys that looked like they were young. In fact, Nnoitra knew what Barragan used his "errand" boy Ggio for when no one was looking. For this reason, Barragan would never oppose Nnoitra in anything. He didn't want anyone to know of this, it would have ruined his reputation.

Ichigo swallowed and crawled forward as the large man shook his head at Nnoitra. "Really? Never had a boy get me off, ever, Nnoi, just don't work for me, but I'll show you," he said, unbuttoning his pants to reveal a thick and quite flaccid member. Nnoitra was impressed that he'd managed to control himself.

Ichigo knew his place all too well and before long had the man who claimed to not like boys sucking his cock was moaning like a whore himself. Nnoitra smiled and winked at Zommari who was watching, fascinated as Ichigo worked over the older man with ease and precision. He'd learned very quickly how to best use the piercings in his tongue to the fastest and greatest effect. The lip piercings also offered extra stimulation. To be honest, what Nnoitra had done to his tongue and lips had been entirely for this purpose.

"Take his pretty boy cunt, if you want Zommi. He's used to being fucked without lube," he said watching the show. He always enjoyed watching as he made Ichigo perform on others.

He wasn't surprised to feel the pants he wore being pulled off and rough hands grabbing his hips. He set his jaw so he didn't bite as the dark man slid forward into him and he whimpered at the sudden stretch and pain from it. Though Nnoitra wasn't kidding, he was used to being taken nearly dry. Rarely anymore did Nnoitra take the time to bother with things like lube. He quickly finished off Barragan, nearly choking on the man's heavy release and then stayed put while Zommari finished inside him. He held back a whine as he felt other hands take Zommari's place and someone else sat in front of him, pulling their pants open.

"That's my baby boy, such a pretty little whore, aren't you?" he heard Nnoitra say from behind him. It was worse when he did this, when he talked to him like some paid rent boy to be used by others. This was the first time he'd actually been made to service the others and he found it even more degrading and humiliating than anything else. The others, the other pets were not made to do such things.

"Where are you lot going?" Nnoitra asked. "You aren't going to share?"

Ichigo recognized Starrk's voice. "I'm afraid I am not interested, I have other things to occupy my free time with than abusing your slave," he said with a snort. "And Grimmjow also has work to do."

Szayel's voice, too he recognized. "I've got experiments that can't wait. Good day."

He closed his eyes as someone else sat down and he looked up to see that it was Aizen. "Let's see how good you are," the man said with a leer.

_Present_

_Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 -4:00 am_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Ichigo woke with a screech and scrambling for something, anything to hold onto. He felt arms, strong arms that weren't trying to hurt him, wrap around him and he grasped all the tighter and sobbed.

"Ichigo?" Zaraki's voice pierced the fog that had filled his brain.

"It was another time, all of them, they all…such a good little whore he said," he whimpered into the sleep shirt of the larger man. "The walls, he's tearing down all the walls!"

"Who's tearing down the walls?" he asked, rubbing the younger man's back thoughtfully.

"Shiro…my Shiro, he's in my head now, and he's a demon, and he's angry and he doesn't want me to forget and I tried to forget…" he said, gasping for breath in between each word.

"Shiro?" Zaraki asked. "Who is that, Ichigo?"

"My love, the only one I loved, he was taken from me because…because _he_ caught us…" he said softly, tears still falling, but softly now.

Zaraki adjusted him and tipped him to the side, bracing him with one arm so he could wipe his face with the other. "He caught you? Nnoitra caught you?"

Ichigo's face reflected a deep inner pain. "He…he gave me…Shiro…because it made me…behave. I protected him, and he protected me, and then…and then…when _he_ was gone, we'd kiss and hug and then…then we would lie together and it was…was love…and then…_he_ found us. And he was so mad, so mad at me, and he beat Shiro so badly, then he…he…" Ichigo choked on the words. "He cut off…"

Zaraki's eyes widened. "He castrated him? Or did he cut everything off?"

"He left…left his cock, so he could remember that he…he was only half a man…until he died. Then he just beat him every day…and kept him in the chair…I don't know how long it took…"

"The chair?" Zaraki asked. Ichigo paled immediately.

"It…it had a piece that went up inside…and he'd tie us to it and leave us all night when he was really mad…and it hurt b-because it was too big…and there were these hard pieces on it to make it hurt worse…and you couldn't move…" he said quietly.

"What happened to Shiro?" Zaraki asked after a long moment.

"He beat him so much he was dying one night because of me, and he just screamed to him to die already but he didn't, so he cut his throat…there was so much blood…and he…it was all my fault, if I'd been good, it wouldn't have happened!" he whimpered and buried his face into Zaraki's shirt.

Zaraki shook his head. "No, no, it isn't your fault, love," he said softly, rubbing his back and rocking him. "Shh, now, Nnoitra was a fucking piece of shit bastard that doesn't deserve to live," he said, swallowing rising bile.

Suddenly Ichigo's arms grew tighter and he sobbed loudly. "But I miss him," he said through the tears. "Why do I miss him? I can't…I don't know why!"

Zaraki held him tighter and hushed him until he fell asleep again. He was glad he was at least becoming somewhat coherent, but it was taking far too long for his liking. He said he wanted to let him in, and Zaraki could tell he was showing far more to him than he had to anyone else.

_Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 – 6:45 am_

_Shinigami Headquarters, downtown Rukongai_

The phone on Byakuya's desk rang insistently. It was a quarter of seven, what the hell was someone calling this damn early for?

He groaned and picked it up. "Captain Kuchiki," he responded stoically.

"I hear you are the man to talk to about Aizen's crew," the strange high pitched voice on the other end said.

"That would be me. Look I have a lot of work to do and don't have time for stupid crap, so…" he said, almost hanging up.

"I have Grimmjow and Nelliel. I believe you know them as two of the leaders within Espada?" the voice said.

Byakuya didn't slam the phone down and instead sat back down. "How do I know you're telling me the truth?" he asked.

"Grimmjow," the higher pitched voice said and there was a shuffle.

"Yo, long time no see, Byakuya," came the voice of the demolitions expert that Byakuya knew too well. He'd been the one to deliver the notice that his lover and sister had been kidnapped. "Shiro here does indeed have us, though we were fucking trying to leave anyway, so you know what, whatever the fuck you want, I'll tell ya, how's that?"

There was another shuffle. "Now, do you believe me?" asked the first voice, obviously this Shiro person.

"Okay, what do you want?" he asked, motioning for the techs to trace the call and get in there.

There was a long pause. "Depends. Is Kuro with your people or not?"

"Kuro?" Byakuya asked. "Who is Kuro?"

The voice on the other end sounded annoyed. "Kuro. My best friend, the only one I ever loved in this world before Nnoitra tried to kill me in front of him. Nnoitra is going crazy looking for him, so he must be there!"

Byakuya frowned. Kuro. His eyes went wide. "Kuro as in Kurosaki?" he asked quietly.

"Who else!" Shiro nearly shouted.

"Yes, yes, we have him," Byakuya said slowly, unsure if it was right to tell him that the boy was alive.

There was a long silence and then a manic sounding laugh began on the other end of the line. Byakuya was slightly unnerved by it. "My Kuro, my Kuro, oh…" he said, giggling and laughing. "I…I want to see my Kuro!" he said finally with a final giggle.

"Okay, that can happen, but first…" he started.

"No," came the stark reply. "I don't come in; I don't bring these people in, unless I'm going to my Kuro directly. No other way."

Byakuya sighed in frustration. "He's in a safe house, I can't chance someone following a large group…" he said slowly, hoping he would understand his hesitation.

"No one will follow me. I will meet you with my crew and the defectors in two hours at a location I will send via text. We will be in a black van with opaque windows. It will be driven by a man in a painter's uniform, and the side reads 'Sumoform Painting Service'. Park in front of the van and then pull out after ten minutes, no more, no less, and we will follow you two car lengths behind. That is the only way," he said, and turned off the phone, leaving Byakuya staring at it for a long moment.


	7. The Swiftest Thoughts

**On Blade's Edge**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

_The Swiftest Thoughts_

* * *

_Present_

_Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 – 7:00 am_

_Rukongai Hospital_

The world was muddled and mixed up for Luppi as he felt it swimming back with a vengeance. He groaned and felt the world shift around him. Bleary eyes opened and he found himself staring a pristine white ceiling. This wasn't his home. He tried to roll but his hands were restrained. He frowned and looked down and the world seemed to shake in his eyes. His legs were bandaged and in suspension. He tilted his head to the side. What happened?

There was a knock and the door opened and he fixed his eyes on the nurse. She spoke and he blinked. That was odd, little colored squares were floating around her. He shook his head.

"What?" he said.

"Do you know your name?" she asked patiently.

"L-Luppi…" he said, turning and looking around. "I…don't remember what happened…where's Zommie?"

"Zommie?" the nurse asked looking at him. "Who's Zommie?"

Luppi blinked as she continued speaking but the colorful squares distracted him. She repeated herself.

"I…my master, where is he? He'll be upset when I don't come back…where am I?" he said, trying to lift his hands. "My head hurts…"

The nurse came over and released his hands and he reached up to find his head bandaged. "I…was escaping the maggots…they were going to eat me…they were so big, and crawled out of their mouths," he said, seriously, remembering now.

There had been dead bodies all over the place and he almost fell down on them, then these maggots the size of cats crawled out of their mouths and chased him. He ran to the window and jumped… Oh, that explained the fact he was in a hospital. He frowned as he recalled the movie that Zommari was watching, something about world war II and it had some rather graphic depictions of the dead on the battlefield. That must have triggered the bad trip, he thought as a headache began to burst behind his eyes. Yeah, he asked Zommie not to do that to him, because when he'd been on the street, he'd seen more than a few decaying bodies. Now when he overdid it on the drugs, LSD being his favorite, he always saw maggots that were trying to eat him. He'd done some odd things on bad trips before, but this was the first time he'd walked out a third story window. He supposed it was a good thing he wasn't dead from that height…

"Honey, you had enough drugs in your system to kill most people," the nurse said, not surprised that the young man had been hallucinating.

He'd been found outside the door to the ER, left apparently by someone, with two severely broken legs, one of his hips broken, and a severe concussion. That had been a week ago, and finally he had come around. Up until now, they had him as a John Doe, though intake had at first listed him as a Jane because he was so petite and was dressed in girlish clothing. His hair was braided neatly and it was obvious that other than the drugs, the young man was taken care of. They assumed of course that he was a street kid, until they realized the high amount of drugs and high quality of the drugs he was on. Their next thought was perhaps a rent boy. That was highly likely, but still didn't quite fit. Now he referred to this "Zommie" as his master? She would be making some call shortly.

"Can you tell me more about…" her voice trailed off into bubbles escaping her mouth.

Luppi giggled and then started laughing because the more she talked the more the rainbow colored bubbles floated around the room. He chased a few as they came toward him. "Pretty bubbles," he said, grinning as they popped on his fingers. The nurse was frantic and Luppi just blinked at her. "Your voice makes pretty bubbles," he said finally, touching her lips. "Talk more?"

The nurse left and when the door shut these strange lights flashed. He realized then he didn't hear it, he smiled though because the lack of sound was kind of nice. A few moments later, a young doctor came into the room with a name badge that he could read said "Dr. Ishida". He was a dark haired man with glasses, perhaps no more than twenty two years of age. He was speaking and his voice came out in little sharp boxes, not nearly as pretty as the rainbow bubbles of the nurse.

Dr. Uryuu Ishida had worked for a short time at the hospital. He was an intern, working diligently on his psychiatry degree and in partner with his father, Dr. Ryuken Ishida, who was also a neurologist at the main hospital. He looked over the patient.

"You're sure he said Zommie?" he asked with a frown.

The nurse, named Orihime, nodded. "Called him his master, and said that he would be mad if he didn't return. All he said before he started talking about bubbles was his name was Luppi.

Uryuu, seven years ago, lost his friend to a mysterious kidnapper that had never been identified as far as he knew. He was there when his friend was drugged, taken off in a van and his family quietly disappeared. Uryuu, however, was tenacious. He had spent the last seven years becoming a psychiatrist. However, he also spent the last seven years searching in his free time along with his friends Arisawa Tatsuki, Yatsutora Sado, and Orihime Inoue. Well, friend was a relative term, he and Orihime had been dating the last five years, and Arisawa and Chad had been married already for two. Chad had been Ichigo's nickname for Yatsutora Sado. Ever since he was kidnapped, Chad had never gone by another name.

Arisawa was a teacher at a local karate school and Chad was a cook at the correction center. Orihime was a nurse on the ER floor, which is how Uryuu ended up called to see this particular patient. He looked at her and smiled gently. "Thanks, I think this may be what I've been looking for," he said with a smile.

He jotted down the notes. He wrote on a pad of paper and held it up for Luppi to see. "You can't hear at the moment, correct? You are seeing when you should be hearing sounds?"

Luppi nodded. "Yeah, kinda cool…"

Uryuu looked at Orihime. "Synesthesia. From the head injury, his brain is processing sounds as images. But he can still read, so that's a good sigh." He wiped the white board and jotted another note. "What is your master's name?"

Luppi smiled. "Zommari Rureaux," he said with a definite nod. "Can I go home? My head really hurts…" he muttered.

Uryuu shook his head and jotted another note. "You had a bad trip, Luppi. Your legs had to be surgically repaired. We don't know if you'll be able to walk or not again. You have had pins and rods put in to stabilize it."

Luppi frowned and sighed. "But you'll give me the drugs I need, right?" he said, looking between them.

Uryuu sighed. "I can't give you LSD," he jotted. "I will give you pain medication and we'll see what we can do to help you with the withdrawal process."

Luppi nodded. "He abandoned me here, didn't he?" he said softly. "Just like everyone else…"

Uryuu sighed. He turned to Orihime. "Call in my father, he'll need a full neurological work up. I'm calling in the police, I'm thinking when I give them the name, we should know something soon."

Orihime smiled. "Do you think we're that close to where he went?" she asked quietly.

"I hope so, I really do," he said, putting the chart down and heading to his office.

Seven years of sneaking around back allies had let him to Sōsuke Aizen as the most likely culprit of his friend and their family's disappearance. More than one interview with a crack or smack junkie had led him to the name of Zommari. He had a few other names, but no way to connect them back to Aizen. He knew that the bastard could very well have his friend. He just didn't know what to do about it. Now, however, he had a psych patient that couldn't be released, even to the cops, without his consent. He would be involved whether they liked it or not.

_7:45 am_

_Shinigami Headquarters_

With an hour left before the meet with the Shiro fellow, Byakuya thought it prudent to bring in those he knew of that had been kidnapped by Aizen at the same time. It wouldn't do much to build a case on someone like Kurosaki with debatable mental condition without multiple verifications. He had his sister and his fiancé, but they were close to him so would not bode well in the long run of getting a believable case. Ichigo himself was barely coherent half the time. He possibly had two espada and other victims coming in, but he needed all hands on deck.

"Hello, I was calling for Toshiro Hitsugaya?" he said into the phone.

"Yeah, just a minute," came the answer followed by laughter. He didn't have his personal number, so his only recourse was calling the frat house that he lived in.

"What?" came the response in clipped tones.

"Toshiro, I'm not sure if you remember, my name's Captain Byakuya Kuchiki…"

"I remember you, what?" he asked, annoyed sounding.

"I need to bring you in for your safety," he said with a sigh.

There was a shuffle. "What the fuck for?" came the terse reply. "You didn't do a damn thing when that bastard kidnapped me and tore my entire family down and left me orphaned and alone. I'm just now getting my fucking life on track."

"I'm sorry, Toshiro, I heard about the accident…" Byakuya began.

"It wasn't an accident, and you know it. Their car didn't accidently have the breaks cut on a mountain road, and they didn't accidently get pushed off the side by another car. My little sister and brother were in that car, too, you know. I know my father was fuck all, and a criminal, but my mom and my sister and brother didn't deserve to die," he said, and Byakuya recognized the bitterness.

Toshiro had the unfortunate luck to be the eldest son of the upstart Hitsugaya crime family. Aizen had kidnapped him and held him for an exorbitant amount of ransom, enough to cripple not only the crime family, but his family as well. Then, the night he was released, his parents were run off a cliff face in route to get him from the drop point. It had been a statement from Aizen. Don't try and start up something in my territory. This is the consequence. Since then, Toshiro had been going to school for architecture, and trying to forget what happened to him and his family.

"We busted the human trafficking division, Toshiro, we got all the product, including Kurosaki. He's going to be out for blood," he said with a sigh. He hadn't intended to reveal it yet, but he knew that it would be necessary.

"Fuck," he muttered on the other end. Toshiro knew that meant that anyone who had been there with him would be a target again. He knew that Nnoitra, sick bastard that he was, wouldn't just give up. "Pick me up, I'll be ready in a couple hours," he said softly and hung up.

Byakuya sighed and called the second number he had. "Hello?" came the chipper reply.

"Hanataro?" he said with a smile. The boy had always been such a dear. "It's Byakuya."

"Oh hi!" he said and there was a loud sound of chickens clucking suddenly. "Hush, you silly hens, I'm talking on the phone, not to you," he said.

"I hate to do this, but I need you to come in for a little while," Byakuya said softly.

He didn't have to even speak for the captain to pick up the tension that suddenly went through the young man. "Why?"

"Hana, we busted Nnoitra's ring. We got Kurosaki and all his merchandise."

The other man gulped. "Okay, I'll be ready in a couple hours; I have to arrange for someone to come take care of the animals. Is he…is he okay?" he said the last very softly.

"He's alive, Hana," Byakuya answered, knowing that Hana would understand that he was far from okay.

"Okay," the young man said and clicked off.

Byakuya sat and stared at the ceiling for a long time until the intercom buzzed, bringing him out of his daze. "Sir, there's a call from a Dr. Ishida concerning a patient that came in the ER last week."

He picked up the phone and answered it. "Captain Kuchiki," he said softly.

"Captain, I'm Dr. Uryuu Ishida…" he started.

"Uryuu?" he said, his head lifting. "You're one of Kurosaki's friends. I remember you."

The other man stammered. "Um, yes, I'm calling because we have a young man that was left outside the ER in bad shape, who claims to have belonged to Zommari…"

"Stay put, I'll be there in three hours," he commented, standing up and grabbing his coat. "Keep surveillance on him, and do not leave him alone."

"Um, yeah, uh sure…look…" Uryuu started.

"Dr. Ishida, if you wish to know everything, have your other friends be there and ready when I arrive. I'm sure that you'll be quite interested in recent developments but I cannot discuss it over an unsecure line," he said, hanging up and hoping the young man understood.

_8:45 am_

_Undisclosed Location_

Right on time, the black car pulled up in front of the van carrying the group of escapees. Shiro could barely sit still as they made their slow way through the streets. He wanted to scream at Shinji to go faster, but it wouldn't do any good. It was a matter of precaution. They could not get caught. Shiro would not get caught before he saw Kuro again.

"You will lose me," whispered the voice beside him. He smiled to himself. He wasn't that crazy. He knew a hallucination when he saw one. In fact he was pretty sure he had some sort of schizophrenia, to be honest. He was the right age to develop it. But it didn't matter. He'd do whatever he had to do to be with his Kuro again.

"His name isn't Kuro, you know that, right?" whispered the voice. Shiro turned and smiled at the dark haired version of Ichigo. Where Shiro was white, Kuro was pure black, skin, hair, everything but his eyes was drenched in darkness.

"I know that," he whispered, grinning, and getting odd looks from the occupants of the van. Everyone but Rin and Cirucci had come, they'd left them locked in their hideout. Hiyori in particular was often bothered by Shiro's strange behavior; however, she couldn't deny that he had rescued them from hell. Even if their rescuer was a little bit crazy.

Finally the cars went into an underground entrance, and they followed them into a sort of parking garage. The eight occupants and Shiro stepped out and followed the suited federal man into an elevator that required a complex passcode and a retina scan. Shiro noted there were six floors as he entered, and the man pressed the button for the sixth level. The doors opened and the man nodded to the twelve of them. "Welcome to the Serietei, my friends."

They stepped out, the federal man taking the elevator back down and into a large windowless but open area. Shiro froze as soon as he saw that familiar mop of orange that was unmistakable. Shinji looked at him.

"Shiro?" he said quietly.

Shiro swallowed and walked forward slowly, pulling the cherry blossom kimono around him tighter. What was he thinking? Just walking into this place? He didn't even know what had happened after…afterward.

Inside the living area, Zaraki was seated on one of the sofas, leaning back and trying to relax. However, Ichigo had crawled up into the smallest amount of space the huge man had ever seen a person take up, and seemed to flinch every time someone walked near enough to be seen. He kept his head almost buried in the larger man's armpit, which Zaraki thought was odd. He knew that there was a group on the way, and he hoped the storm wouldn't be too terrible.

His pink haired sister lifted her head and looked across at the elevators. "They're here, Ken-chan," she said softly, seeing them come toward them.

Zaraki looked over and blinked. White demon…Ichigo had referred to this Shiro as a white demon, and now he knew why. The man was obviously an albino, with stark white silver hair falling about his shoulders and piercing eyes that were black in the sclera and gold in the iris, a strange thing if the shinigami agent had ever seen it, and he wore a white kimono covered in cherry blossoms. He was walking slowly bracketed on one side by a tall slender man with long blond hair pulled back and a tiny young woman or girl with blonde pigtails. Behind these three were several others, a couple more women, and four more men, one of which was very well built with silver hair. He was the only one that Zaraki spotted as being a fighter, though.

At the very back, behind the rest, the blue haired espada he knew as Grimmjow and the green haired espada he knew as Nel were walking with a young blonde boy beside them.

The one named Shiro kept coming forward when the others stopped at the couches, glancing at each other and toward Zaraki. Shiro seemed to be zoned in on one thing. Byakuya had told Zaraki about his conversation on the phone, and that he was perhaps more than a little obsessed with Ichigo, so all of Zaraki's reflexes were primed. Shiro knelt before them and reached out with a black nailed hand that was visibly shaking.

"Kuro?" he whispered.

Ichigo's head shot up and his eyes went wide and he stared for a long moment and shook his head. "Y-you're dead…you can't be here…if you're here…it…it…no…." he stammered, reaching out and taking the shaking hand in his own shaking hands. "B-but I don't care," he said, tears starting to trickle down his face as Shiro smiled and leaned forward just as Ichigo threw himself into the other man's arms. "Shiro, I watched you die…I watched you die…" he whispered.

"I'm so sorry, Ichi-baby, I'm so sorry," Shiro whispered, petting his head and clutching him, his own eyes full of tears. "I don't know how, I really don't…the cut must have missed, not deep enough, something, or maybe I am a demon in human flesh like you used to tell me," he whispered, "I didn't die…I don't know how…"

Ichigo suddenly pushed back and stumbled away and put both hands on his head. "No…no…if you're here, I'm still there, and this all a dream, and he's going to come back," he gasped, looking around him. "I'll wake up, I will and then I'll…I'll kill him, Shiro, like I promise!" he screamed, almost tripping over the casted ankle as he scrambled away from Shiro and toward the kitchen.

Shiro's eyes went wide. "No, no!" he screamed and took off after him, nearly slipping and falling himself as Zaraki went after them both.

Ichigo had managed to fumble one of the knives out of the butcher block and held up with a wide grin. "See, I can do it this time, like I promised!" he said, tears falling from his eyes as he stared at the blade. Shiro shook his head and stood a few steps back with both hands raised.

"Ichi-baby, no, no, you don't have to do anything, I'm going to do it myself," Shiro said. "I'm gonna take the bastard and tie him up and slice him to pieces, remember?"

"You're dead, you can't, so…so I have to do it!" he said, looking at him with a wide smile that Shiro didn't like. He recognized that grin as his own.

"Ichi-baby, no, I'm the fucking crazy one, remember, you aren't crazy and you don't do these things, I do, I won't let you do it," he said, taking a step forward. "I don't want you to make him bleed, you're…you're pure, Ichi-baby, I can't let you taint yourself by killing him. I can't do it. I told you that. I'll kill the bastard and make him suffer for you, like I promised, remember?"

"But…I'm you now!" Ichigo said, looking up with wide eyes and another smile. "I…I have to be you because if I'm me, I can't do it, so since…since he killed you…I'll be you, and I won't break my promise to you!"

Ichigo danced his fingers along the blade. By now, the rest of Shiro's group was standing back, wide eyed. For one thing, they couldn't believe this person existed. For another thing, he appeared to be even crazier than Shiro was, and that was a feat unto itself. They looked up as three more people came in and saw the huge guy with black hair hold up his hands to stop them from coming any closer. Shinji looked and saw a uniformed man with dark hair and a red haired man. In front of them was a short, little woman with black hair. She stood with both hands to her mouth at the scene.

"Please, Ichi-baby, I'm not dead, I'm right here," Shiro said, daring to take another step forward. He could disarm him, but he didn't want to hurt him or even come close to hurting him. However, he wasn't going to let him hurt himself either.

"He-he wants me, though, so wouldn't we hurt him if I just…just…you know…" he said, turning his head to the side and staring into the mirror of the blade with a frown as he fingered the inside of his opposite forearm. "If he couldn't ever get to me again, that would tear him apart, wouldn't it?" he said, looking up as though the idea was perfect. "He loves me, he told me so, master loves me, and if I take it away…he'll hurt as much as he hurt me when you died…" he said, flexing his hand around the handle.

Shiro bit one pale lip and sighed. "Ichi-baby, I'm sorry, but I can't…watch this anymore," he said and took a quick step forward and squeezed his wrist until the dropped the knife. As expected, the motion got a violent reaction and he flew into a panic trying to get away from Shiro. Shiro winced and pulled him tight aginst his chest.

"Ichi-baby, what did he do after I left you?" he whispered as Ichigo fought to get out of his grip and away from him. Finally he looked up as the short dark haired woman came up and jabbed a needle into his thigh, which didn't get much of a reaction, and he went limp in his arms.

Shiro swallowed and moved him to look down into his face, laying him on his back. "Oh Ichi-baby, I'm so sorry, how sorry I am I couldn't get to you sooner," he said quietly, tears falling heavily.

Zaraki kneeled. "I'll put him in a bed," he said quietly.

Shiro nodded, letting the big man pick him up and take him away.

Shiro's gaze then went to Grimmjow and Nel who still stood behind the group and he let out an inhuman scream, shocking everyone around them, and flew at the bigger man, knocking him flat to the ground. Nel scrambled away, pulling Wonderweiss with her and staring in shock as Shiro began to visciously punch Grimmjow's face and upper body, screaming at him.

"What did he do to him? What the fuck do you people do to him to make him this way? He's barely fucking aware of what's happening around him!" he screamed as Zaraki, who had come running pulled him off with Byakuya's help. They were both shocked at how strong the scrawny looking albino was for his size.

"Calm the fuck down, this isn't helping!" Zaraki growled. The man looked like a demon like that. Finally he stopped, panting for breath and nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said, stifling a sob. "I blame myself for not getting there sooner, especially after what we went through together."

Grimmjow, bleeding from his nose and mouth, stood shakily with Renji's help, still surprised at the reaction from the pale man. They were all led into the large dining area where everyone could sit comfortably. Hiyori and the rest of the group stayed behind with Nel and Wonderweiss, Grimmjow going with Zaraki and Shiro to find out just exactly what was happening.

Zaraki sighed. "Telling us what exactly that was would be very helpful," he said as Byakuya pulled a recorder out and flicked it on.

Shiro nodded, cleaning the blood off his knuckles slowly with a napkin. "It started when I woke up in a cage…"

Flashback

Shiro's eyes opened slowly and he realized he was staring at bars. He sat up and looked around. He was in a cage barely big enough for a person. All around him were similar cages full of people. He struggled to remember what happened last, then it came back. A night of drinking had ended with him getting in a fist fight with some stupid bastard over his dress. He asked the guy if he was mad because he didn't have a pretty kimono like his, and it was on then. Someone had hit him from behind, cheating bastards, he had the guy whipped.

"The fuck am I?" he asked, seeing a man walking by.

The man kneeled down and looked at him. "Hey, you're merchandise, and I bet your pale ass sells for a shit ton. Assuming the boss doesn't keep you for himself, he does like the pretty boys," he said, winking. "If not, I'm sure the boys will have a go before you get sold anyway."

"What?" he asked, frowning. Sold? Those fuckers sold him into slavery? Who did shit like that?

The man stood. "Shouldn't pick a fight with one of Aizen's men, sugar."

Shiro's head fell forward and thumped into the bars. Well, shit, he thought. He waited for several days, and more and more cages were brought in. To be honest the smell was disgusting. Most of them were female, but there were about a quarter of them male. Finally, a tall man with a bandana covering one eye came strolling down the aisle leading a barely dressed boy, by the looks, on a chain leash. He wore a t-shirt and a kilt or wrap of some sort. They almost walked by when he stopped and turned and looked at Shiro.

"Well, lookie there, baby boy," he said, and Shiro saw that the one on the leash didn't look up at all. He had beautiful orange hair, though, Shiro thought. "You a chick or a dude?"

Shiro rolled his eyes. "I've got a cock, what's that tell you?"

He wished he'd said he was a girl because he later found out he probably wouldn't have ever taken any more notice of him after that. As it was, his grin widened and he motioned to the guard. "Take the white bitch up to my room. I might have to hang onto him for a little while. That white skin will look very nice with welts and bruises, don't you think, baby boy?" Still, no answer except a low whine when the tall one jerked on the chain and led him forward.

He winked, or blinked, at Shiro. "See you later, princess," he said and left.

Shiro didn't know what the hell was going on, but at least he'd have a chance to run. He didn't expect three guards to drag him from the cell and handcuff, gag, and blindfold him and practically carry him out of there up stairs and outside again. A car ride later, again he was bodily moved to what felt like an elevator and then tossed onto a soft surface. He screamed against the gag but it was no use.

Finally, he felt hands on him and he prepared to punch, but they were gentle as the gag was untied and the blindfold removed. Instead of the dark haired freak, he was staring at the boy with the orange hair. He untied Shiro's hands and stepped back, not looking at him. The tall freak came over and sat down beside him and slapped a cuff onto his right wrist then his other.

"Aren't you pretty?" he said to him, grinning. "Baby boy likes you too, princess."

Shiro frowned at him. "Who the fuck are you?" he growled.

"Oh, such a mouth on such a pretty thing. Take his clothes off, baby boy," he said, getting up and walking over to the table.

Shiro didn't want to fight with the other one, whatever his name was. "My name's Shiro," he said, letting the orange haired boy untie and remove the blue kimono he was wearing. He wore nothing underneath it. He then stepped back and looked up and locked eyes with Shiro for a second before the freak turned around.

"Nope, you're my princess now, I'm Nnoitra, by the way, your master for as long as I have you," he said and without warning struck his back with the riding crop.

Shiro gasped and tried to get up, only then realizing the cuff was chained to the bedside. He yanked at it and looked back at him.

"Princesses need pretty markings, on your belly," the freakish bastard said.

"No, fucker," he growled.

Nnoitra sighed and reached out and grabbed Ichigo by the chain at his collar, no it ran through his collar, Shiro realized, noting now that it ran down his shirt. Ichigo stumbled forward and Shiro realized he was in pain. Nnoitra smiled, pulling the shirt off him and Shiro could see part of why the tugging hurt, the chain pulled on nipple rings and went under the…no, nobody would be that fucking twisted… Nnoitra undid the side of his cover and it fell off, and Shiro found out that this man was that twisted. He then shoved him over onto the bed and began to lay into him without warning with the riding crop.

Shiro gasped. "Stop!" he said, seeing the barely contained screams that the other one was holding back.

"Then you will do what I fucking say," Nnoitra said. "Shut your fucking mouth, do what I fucking say, when I say it, or I will torture baby boy for what you do wrong. Got it?"

So began their life of give and take. Eventually he left them to sleep in the same bed chained together, and they talked quietly into the night. Ichigo told Shiro his name and Shiro jokingly referred to him as Kuro, since he went by Shiro, he said they were yin and yang of each other, so it was only fitting. Ichigo and he became closer, and when he saw that Shiro had too much from Nnoitra, he'd do something to shift his attention away. Later, tied together, they would sooth each other and Shiro would tell him not to do such things, he could take it.

Eventually, after around three months, Nnoitra had started letting them sleep unfettered. He had begun to use them against each other to ensure both of them did as they were told. That was what led to the night that began the decline for Shiro.

Nnoitra had been in a mood lately, and it was showing on the way he treated both of them. Neither was without bruises, and he had taken to violently forcing them both almost every night. No matter what Shiro tried, he couldn't get him to leave Ichigo alone. Ichigo had been distraught and weeping after Nnoitra left them. In comforting him, they ended up kissing each other, at first tenderly, then passionately. That first time, though, they stopped things before things could progress out of fear of Nnoitra's reaction, as well as the fact that neither were in any condition to engage in anything resembling pleasure.

It became nightly that they would comfort each other with gentle touches and caresses and kisses that they were both craving. Another month passed, and then Nnoitra was gone for a week, leaving them at the main compound and alone. Finally emboldened, Shiro took the initiative, and showed his sweet Kuro what it was like to be loved. It was an experience neither would forget. Another month passed before Nnoitra was gone again, and they again were together in the way that made them both happy. However, this time, the door opened and Shiro was being drug out of Ichigo's arms by an irate and screaming Nnoitra.

To Ichigo's horror, Nnoitra beat him until he was unable to stand as he pleaded for him to stop. Then, as if that wasn't enough, he grabbed a knife from the table and growled something that Ichigo couldn't hear at him, and flipped Shiro to his back and sliced away his testes from his body, leaving him screaming and writing in agony as he stepped out and yelled for Szayel to come help him fix his slut slave.

Szayel had been horrified at what he'd done, but he couldn't fix it. He sutured the wound and cleaned it and left him bandaged. Nnoitra then chained him to the bed and drug Ichigo to the chair for the rest of the night. From then on, both were miserable. Nnoitra wouldn't let them so much as touch each other, and their only source of comfort was gone. He'd gag them both at night to make sure they couldn't speak, and would alternate them on the chair he'd rigged. Over the next two months, Szayel was called to stitch and staunch bleeding more than ever before.

Then came the night he couldn't stop himself. This time, he grabbed the knife and slid it around the pale neck, watching as blood flowed over the flesh. He called Szayel and then Grimmjow came and took him away. That was of course, all the Shiro remembered until he woke in the hospital, told it was a miracle he was alive, that by all rights he should be dead.

_Present_

_Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 – 10:00 am_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Finally, Shiro and the others were roomed on the sixth floor easily and Byakuya left to pick up his other two charges. He stopped at the frat house and got Toshiro, who as expected, spoke little. Hanataro at least greeted him, as he got in with something that peeped. Byakuya was sure it was a chick. Since his experience, the young man spent more time with chickens than he did people.

They came to the safe house and Toshiro looked around as they stepped out onto the sixth floor. "This place has six floors?" he asked.

Byakuya nodded, showing them down a hallway of doors that had signs hanging on them identifying the occupants. He opened a room with two beds that the two would share. "I'm afraid the singles are taken," Byakuya said with a sad smile.

"What is this place?" Hanataro asked, amazed at how nice it was.

"Seireitei is the name we give it, but the top two floors are the floors used for high value targets. It is perhaps the most guarded secret location used by the shinigami organization. We keep people that need to be kept safe here. The top two floors are for people that are the most important, while the lower four are generally for those that take less priority in the investigations we're running," he said impassively.

Toshiro turned and eyed him. "So the super important people get the best treatment and are kept the safest."

Byakuya sighed. "I suppose. Not that the lower levels aren't safe. The entire building is built inside the faux warehouse on the outside, and the warehouse windows light and go off like anywhere else. There's an additional five foot concrete wall between that area and the interior building. Entry, as you saw, is not easy. There are several layers and we passed by more than a few hidden snipers on the way in. The upper floors are for long term occupants or high value testimony."

Toshiro sighed. "I guess it's better to be high value. How many people are here right now?"

"Total we had twelve come in today and already had three in house. My fiancé and sister are staying, and it seems we'll have another four coming tomorrow. There is a possible four more that may stay. We simply can't take the chance of people coming and going, so people either come or stay or they come once and leave for good," he said with a nod.

Toshiro looked at the other young man who was sitting on the bed cross-legged with a baby chick. "This should be fun…" he muttered, flopping back onto his bed.

_11:30 am_

_Rukongai Hospital_

Uryuu waited for the man from the Shinigami to show up about his patient. He wasn't really sure what to think about the whole situation. He looked up as a man when a man in a black suit and tie walked into the waiting room. He had longish black hair tied back at the base of his skull. If that wasn't who he was waiting for, he would be very surprised. He'd called Tatsuki and Chad in from their work, and Orihime was already at the hospital of course.

"Mr. Kuchiki?" Uryuu said, approaching him.

"Ishida," he said, holding out his hand. "Good to meet you. I believe we spoke seven years ago, briefly, I was attached to the case at that time, but I wasn't a captain then. I want to thank you for the call. Can I see your patient?" he said formally.

Uryuu nodded. "Yes, he's a little disorientated, and seems to be suffering from synesthesia. It is a little disconcerting for him right now," he said with a nod and opened the door to the room where the bandaged young man lay staring at the ceiling. He opened his eyes when the door opened.

"Good day, I'm Captain Byakuya Kuchiki of the Shinigami Organization. I was called by your doctor because you mentioned a person that is involved with my current investigation, Zommari," he said, coming up on the side of the bed.

Luppi smiled. "You're voice makes lovely little, perfect circles when you talk," he said, smirking. "Yeah, Zommie took care of me."

Byakuya nodded. "What do you mean by took care of you?"

Luppi frowned reaching up and realizing that his head was bandaged. "What happened to my head? Did you cut off my hair? Zommie will be so mad…"

Uryuu put a hand on his shoulder. "Remember, when you fell, you hit your head. We had to shave part of your head to put in some stitches and to make sure you were okay. We thought we were going to have to do surgery for a while," he said smiling at him.

Luppi nodded. "Oh, okay," he said with a frown. "But Zommie…"

"Luppi, you won't be going back to him," Byakuya said with a soft smile.

Luppi looked at him. "I love seeing you talk, your voice is so precise," he said with a smile. "But I can't go back? But I need my pills…"

Uryuu put a hand on his and nodded. "Luppi, you don't need those pills. We're going to detox you, and we will make you feel fine without those pills. Can you tell the captain what you told me? About Zommie?"

Luppi looked confused for a minute then smiled and turned back to Byakuya. "Oh, yeah. I was Zommie's favorite toy, but if he left me here, he got tired of me, I guess," he said with a sigh. "He wasn't fucking me as much, I guess he got bored," he said blinking tiredly.

"Did you want to be with him?" Byakuya asked softly.

"Not at first, but he gave me the best drugs," he said with a loopy grin. "I didn't want him but you know enough dope and I didn't care what he did…"

Byakuya nodded and motioned to Uryuu to go out of the room with him. "What did the exam show?"

"He's been severely sexually abused. I can't be sure how long. The amount of drugs in his system when he was found was frankly amazing. Most people would have been dead with that much running in their veins. He's obviously got quite a tolerance to drugs. As far as we can tell he was a street kid that this guy picked up with the promise of drugs," Uryuu said. "His injuries came from walking out a window. He may never walk, we can't tell you. The head trauma left him with the thing where he says he sees things when you talk."

Byakuya nodded. "When can he be moved to the safe house?"

Uryuu shook his head. "Well, anytime if you have the facility and someone to care for him. He has to stay off his legs for several weeks, so he's going to require twenty four hour care for that time."

"I am going back, here's my card. If you decide that you wish to become involved in the recovery of your friend, please call me on this number. I'll send a car to pick you up. One way trip, I can't have people coming and going. Thank you, and I'll send someone tomorrow to pick him up and move him via ambulance to the Seireitei," Byakuya said and handed him the card. He didn't bother to acknowledge the others as he left.

Orihime came up to him and looked at the card. "What do you think?" she asked.

"Ichigo needs us, I'm going," Uryuu said. "I'll call later tonight and have him pick me up. What about you?"

Orihime nodded. "Wherever you go, I go."

Uryuu smiled. "I'll tell the administrator that we're involved in a police investigation. And you two?" he said looking up at Tatsuki and Chad.

"We're going," Tatsuki said with a soft smile. "I'm not letting him go through this alone."

Uryuu nodded. "Okay, come on, 'Hime, let's go talk to admin about us going, and transferring Luppi to the safe house.


	8. Slipping

**On Blade's Edge**

* * *

**Chapter Eight**

_Slipping_

* * *

_Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 – 12:45 pm_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Sometime later, Ichigo came around to find himself with Zaraki in the bedroom. He immediately grabbed onto him tightly and started to panic.

"Ichigo, please, you're fine, remember?" Zaraki said softly, putting a hand on his head gently. Ichigo shuddered and buried his head into Zaraki's chest once again.

"Was I dreaming?" he said finally.

Zaraki smiled and shook his head though Ichigo couldn't see it. "No, you weren't. Shiro is alive. He survived somehow."

There was an incredibly long moment of silence before Zaraki felt tears soaking into his shirt again. "Do you love Shiro, Ichi?" he asked quietly. For some reason he thought made his heart hurt suddenly.

"Shiro…Shiro was there when I needed him…he was my comfort when no one else was there," he said quietly. "I wanted to die when Nnoitra killed him."

Zaraki nodded, noting that there was no real answer in what he said. "But do you love him? Want to be with him?"

Ichigo lifted his head and stared at Zaraki. "He can't be my master," he said finally, tilting his head to the side. "He's too weak, he's too fragile, and you have to take me. If you want to take him and be his master, that would make me happy…" he said, putting his head back down. "Love is only for the master. You are my master now, the only one I love."

Zaraki started to respond but how could he respond to that? The kid was still stuck in the mindset of having someone control every aspect of his life. It was no wonder he was confused. He sighed and held him as he faded to sleep again. His body was still healing, and it seemed to be that he required a lot more sleep than he would have expected.

He sat still and looked up as the door opened and closed and Yachiru came into the room quietly. "Hey, Ken-chan."

"Hey doll," he said with a smile as she sat down beside him and ruffled Ichigo's hair gently. He hummed in his sleep. It seemed he always reacted to gentle touches and it had to come from rarely feeling them.

"How is he?" she asked, looking up at her big brother.

He shook his head. "I don't know, I just don't know what to do."

Yachiru smiled. "You were hurt when Shiro came here."

He looked at her. "What do you mean? And why are you smiling about it?" he asked with a frown.

"You like him, Ken-chan. And when you thought Shiro was going to take him away, you were upset. Don't tell me you weren't, because I saw your face," she said sternly.

"Don't be ridiculous. I don't care that way for him. He's a child, like you are," he said, rolling his eyes and adjusting him on his lap.

She shook her head. "Nope. He's not like me. You don't see him like you see me. You look at him with that look you get when you're sizing up a partner. I've seen it before."

He frowned at her and wrinkled his nose. "What the fuck does that mean?"

She sat back proudly. "You do this thing, you did it with that little blonde you dated, Asai was her name, and with that dark haired boy, Ryu I think, that you took out a couple times. Face it. He is your type."

He shook his head. "I don't have a type, and no he isn't even if I did."

"Yup, Ken, you do. Short, which with you isn't too damn hard, small and slender, and most of all, in need of rescuing. That, my big bro with a white knight complex, is your type," she said with a nod of her head. "And this one fits your type more than anyone you've dated."

Zaraki started to argue and shook his head. "I don't buy that shit."

"Asai was five foot seven, weight a hundred pounds soaking wet, and she was running from an abusive boyfriend," she said, arching a pink brow.

He nodded. "That's one, doesn't prove anything…"

"Ryu was five foot five, weight a hundred thirty, and he was trying to get out of a prostitution ring," she said, smirking even further.

"So I've dated two…" he started.

"Danny was escaping from abusive foster parents, Kerry was coming out of a bad relationship with her girlfriend that had stolen all her money, Silvia was one of the girls you rescued from that fire…should I go on, bro?" she asked. "Even the people you take out once or twice are damaged and broken."

Zaraki started to say something but this time he had nothing. If anyone knew him, it was his little sister. "Okay, okay, I see what you mean. But there is no way in hell I can even think of pursuing a relationship with this kid. Look at him, he's a mess."

Yachiru smiled and stood up, pausing before opening the door. "And the more of mess they are, the longer you stay with them," she commented and left, leaving Zaraki staring after her to wonder if she was right after all.

Meanwhile, Shiro sat at the kitchen table with his head in his hands as Shinji sat down beside him. "Shiro?" he said quietly.

Shiro looked up and smiled softly. "You guys thought he wasn't real, I know that. Thought I was some crazy mother fucker. I mean, even though he is real, I'm still crazy as fuck."

Shinji nodded. "Yeah, we did," he said with a sigh. "And I'm sorry we didn't believe you about him, so are the others."

Shiro shook his head. "That doesn't matter. I am crazy, you know. To hear voices and feel this murderous rage that I feel toward Nnoitra. I will murder him. It is simply something that will happen, even if I have to sacrifice my own life to do it. I have nothing, I am nothing. I have always been this way. Abandoned on the streets as a child, I've always been the freak and the loner. So I'm going to do this, for my Kuro. I'm going to kill him."

Shinji frowned. "But Shiro, you can't just walk up and kill the man," he said, looking at his friend, his leader, really. "I mean, Aizen and security. It isn't just so easy."

Shiro grinned. "Of course not. But I can do something better," he said, standing and walking toward the kitchen. "I have a plan. I need a few things; can we get things brought into this place?"

Shinji followed him. "I am sure if you make a list someone can get it."

Shinji watched as Shiro jotted down a list of items. Shinji scrunched his brow as he read over his shoulder. "What…you're not going to do what I think you're going to do, are you?"

Shiro grinned. "I'm dead, my Kuro isn't. With a little make up and a few strategically placed clothing items to mask my scars, I can look like him from afar. I can keep the illusion up for long enough to get Nnoitra alone. Then, I can kill him."

"Shiro, I don't like this plan, you're going to…" Shinji said, looking up with worried eyes.

"Die?" Shiro said. "Of course I am. I don't intend to leave there alive. Kuro…my beautiful Kuro, he can't heal with me around him. It is impossible. I am a reminder of everything that broke him to pieces. You saw how he reacted to seeing me. The best I can do is get my hands on Nnoitra and slowly cut parts of his body away until he's barely alive, and then drown him in my own blood."

Shinji swallowed and looked slightly horrified at Shiro's statement. He watched as Shiro happily went over to the officer by the door to request someone bring him the items on his list, as though he hadn't just described a grisly dismemberment and murder/suicide. He wasn't really sure how to respond to it. He looked up to see the kid they'd rescued with Grimmjow and Nel come through with the little chick he held. A few minutes later, Hanataro, another victim he understood from before, came out and stopped, staring at Wonderweiss and the chick that was running around on the table in the loop of the blonde's arms.

"Is that…is that a silkie?" Hanataro asked, heading over to the table. Wonderweiss looked up at him. "Oh my goodness, it is! I don't have any of those, but I do have this little guy," he said, taking out a chick from his clothes and showing the other boy.

Wonderweiss stared and smiled at him. "Yeah, what's his name?" he said pointing to the chick on the table.

The other boy shook his head and shrugged. Hanataro smiled. "Come on, you gotta name him. This one is a Cochin. They're covered in white feathers, kinda like that one will be, but silkies are a lot prettier. My chick is named Cotton because he's gonna be a white puff ball when he gets big. You gotta have a name for that one."

Wonderweiss looked at the chick. "Bonbon."

Hanataro grinned. "I like it!" he said, sitting down and letting the two chicks see each other. "Want to watch them and I'll get some feed for them?"

Wonderweiss nodded and watched as Hanataro took off to do just that. Hanataro missed the slight tilt of the head and he certainly didn't understand the significance of what had just happened. Hanataro didn't know yet that Wonderweiss only spoke in echoes. He didn't know that he was perhaps the first person he'd said a word to on his own in several years. Wonderweiss looked at the two chicks. Two chicks, two people. He smiled.

_Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 – 3:45 pm_

_Shinigami Headquarters_

Byakuya looked up as he heard a knock on the door. "Enter," he said, looking up.

Captain Kyōraku stood there with a lazy grin. "Captain Kuchiki, got a little special something for you, my friend," he said, flopping into the seat and handing over a file folder to him.

Byakuya picked it up and opened it, his eyes going wide. "What?"

"I know. Tier Harribel, the woman that pretty much runs the entire topside operation of the Espada is an informant for me. You are now the third person to know, the only other being the Head Captain himself," the lazy captain said with a yawn.

"But…but how?" he asked.

"She got into it without knowing what was happening. She was hired legitimately and it wasn't until she first started meeting with the others of the inner circle she realized what was happening and she contacted the head captain. He put her with me. Ever since then, she's been feeding us covert information that won't blow her cover and working from the inside to help some of the more severely abused 'pets' get away from the espada," he said, pulling out a flask and sipping from it. "She's actually completely clean, aside from working inside their organization, so it is pretty easy to give her complete amnesty in exchange for her information."

He stared. "She gave you intel on my sister? And Renji?" he said, looking up with a flash of anger in his normally calm eyes.

"Don't get ruffled, Kuchiki. She also provided us with guarantees that they wouldn't be harmed. She didn't know what Aizen had planned for the Kurosaki boy, however, until it was too late to do anything about it on her end. She never thought he would let Nnoitra go so far," he said with a sigh.

Byakuya nodded, trying not to let anger get to him. "I see. Why are you telling me now?"

"Because we're going to pull her in before we bust them. It is far too dangerous for her and her people if we act on the knowledge she's given us. Aizen would know immediately who provided it to us and go after her. We've got intel on a large scale meeting to deal with the 'problem'. We know that problem is Kurosaki and Urahara getting their boy back. Aizen is going to want to put a stop to it and will likely send Cifer out to get rid of them before anything can happen. The meeting goes down in two days time. I'm pulling her and her people tomorrow night at four am," he said with a nod.

Byakuya nodded. "Is anyone else in on this?"

The other captain grinned. "Not a soul, Kuchiki, so let's keep it that way. The less people who know, the better. This is going down, and Aizen will not recover. Urahara has enough on him to put him and every one of them away. We know he stole files and documents when he left, and we know he's hidden them somewhere that Aizen has been unable to find them, and we're pretty sure they aren't on him. We know that he's got a lot more information on the contacts and the ones that helped Aizen get off the ground, including politicians and people with large fortunes that would rather not be tied to someone like Aizen. What that man has could single handedly bring down not only Aizen's operation, but almost every corrupt institution in our government. You know as well as I do that Aizen's reach is great, including in our organization. That's the only reason that Harribel has been safe so far, because no one knew and the information was kept so guarded."

"Understood, I'm heading back to the Seireitei and check on our new people and see how they are all doing," he said, standing and nodding to Kuchiki

_Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 – 4:45 pm_

_Harribel's Office_

Tier picked up the phone and saw the text was from someone she didn't expect. She looked at the name. Sake-dealer was the name in her phone.

"Great deals this week on your favorite sake brand. Shop now or never! Sale ends at 4 am tomorrow night!"

So that was it. The Shinigami were moving the day after tomorrow in the morning. Shunsui had promised it would be soon after she contacted him when Ichigo was rescued. She had been very glad to hear that the boy was safe and in their hands. Of all the ones she tried to rescue, he was the only one she could never get to. She'd rescued boys and girls from just about all the espada.

Dordonii and Gantenbainne came up, laughing over something. She turned and smiled to them. "Boys?" she asked. "Time to come in from the cold," she said, turning and heading down to the apartments where the others were at.

Dordonii nodded to his half-brother, Gantenbainne. They were both Barragan's sons, illegitimate, of course, both children of his conquests. Barragan prized himself on being quite the lady's man, often bedding several in a week. Of course, this often led to "problems" like the Dori and Gant, as they were called in the mail room. Of course, when possible, he "took care" of such pregnancy problems, ensuring the child was never born. The boys headed and gathered together a few things in a very small hand bag that would go unnoticed when they left. They often took things out in these bags.

"I hope Cirucci is okay," Dordonii said, frowning and looking at his half-brother.

"I'm sure she got out like those others that disappeared. We know that no one killed her," he said with a smile.

She stopped and knocked on another door and let the occupant know the issue. Charlotte Chuhlhorne, too, was ready quickly. He didn't often keep things in the house; mostly they were at the club he worked at. He ran a shelter for abused and homeless LGBT youth out of the back of it without Aizen knowing. The last door she stopped at was Hinamori's door. She was a young woman who had been betrayed by Aizen and nearly killed herself before Harribel got to her. She didn't speak anymore, but she nodded and left to grab the few things that were important for her.

Apacci, Sung Sun, and Mila-Rose were all waiting in the kitchen for her to return. She smiled at them. "Time to warm up, ladies," she said with a nod of her head as she went into the back to find of all people, Nnoitra Gilga at the door.

"Gilga?" she asked, brow wrinkling. She ushered him into the room, and her girls disappeared. None of them wished to be near the man.

"Sorry, Tier, I needed to talk to someone," he said, looking more nervous than she had ever seen.

She shook her head. "What's going on?"

"Wonderweiss, you know, A's little pet genius? He disappeared along with Nel and Grimmjow tonight. Nel and Grimmjow left out the side door with him and these guys nabbed all three of them. They had numbers, and Grimm had left his piece in the club. Do you think…do you think we're being punished?" he said and she realized that the man was more than a little drunk.

"What do you mean, Gilga?" she asked, frowning and steering the lanky one eyed man to a seat.

He belched and blinked his one eye. "I mean, look what I done. I mean, I'm probably the worst man in the world, huh? And if…if Karma was a real thing, shouldn't it have come for me?"

Tier sat down and shook her head. "I don't know what you mean," she said quietly.

"I mean, I…I am fucked up. Like fucking seriously fucked up, Harribel, you know that. Look what I did to my…my…my baby boy," he said, and if Harribel hadn't been sitting in front of him she wouldn't have believed the tears in his eyes. "I just…I miss him, and tonight, when A's boy disappeared, he just was like, oh whatever, I'll find another one. Like it didn't matter…like there was nothing to it at all…"

Harribel frowned. "Gilga are you trying to say you actually cared for him?"

He looked at her and nodded. "Fucked up, ain't it? Only goddamned time I've ever been scared in my whole fucking life was the times I thought I'd hurt him too much. Even when I've killed others that I took for a while, I just…there was something about him. Something in those eyes, and something that no matter what, I couldn't beat out of him. No matter how hard I tried, how much I hurt him, there was a spark in those eyes that wouldn't go away. And I loved that. But I'm fucked up, so I kept doing it, hurting him, because that's all I fucking know. So I'm wondering, is Karma finally showing up? Because fuck, man, I'm toast if so. I've already decided I'll burn for half the shit I did."

Harribel had no idea why he was telling her this. "What…why are you here?"

"Because you are the only one who don't have pets. You don't own people like the rest of us messed up mother fuckers do. I know, I know, you can't because you run the legal businesses, but still. You don't have the mindset to do this fucked up shit. Nel neither. Fuck, even Grimmjow and Szayel can't really. Their 'pets' are more like employees than slaves like the rest of us," he said, running a hand over his head. "I mean, what kind of fucked up people do the shit we've done?"

Harribel nodded. "I'll call you a cab, Gilga, you need to sleep it off."

He nodded and Harribel did just that. She stood and stared out the door. Karma was indeed coming and she wondered if the man could sense it. She felt horrible for the past he'd endured, but at the same time, it was no excuse for the atrocities he inflicted on others as he grew older himself. She was still surprised as much as he hated women that he came to her. She shut the door and looked around the soon to be empty kitchen. Devoid of life, this place would be eerie. She made arrangements for her sharks to be moved the next day under the excuse that she was having the full wall tank cleaned. It wouldn't be the first time she'd done that. It would, however, be the last.

_Flashback_

_Saturday, June 27th, 2009_

_Espada Compound_

Sometimes the dreams and memories weren't terrible. As he slept safely in Zaraki's arms he was sitting curled into the couch alongside Shiro. For once, Ichigo's mind wasn't assaulted with the terrors, instead it was something about Shiro that he never would forget. It was another meeting. A long one, it seemed. He and Shiro were waiting in the outer room with some of the others, and they were curled around each other as they usually were when they were left alone.

One of Grimmjow's men came and sat down across from them and made a face. "Hey," he said.

Both Shiro and Ichigo looked up, blinking owlishly at him. His name was…Illfordt, Ichigo thought. Shiro, as usual, spoke for them. "Granz. You're the doctor's brother, aren't you?" he said, adjusting in the seat to be in an even more protective position around Ichigo.

Illfordt nodded. "Illfordt, yeah, Szayel's my brother. Older brother."

Shiro nodded, on hand threading through Ichigo's hair as he watched the other man. It had been four months since he'd been pulled from the warehouse and put with Ichigo. He did what he could to defer some of Nnoitra's attention from the younger man. He wasn't always successful. He was pierced as well, though not nearly as much as Ichigo. Nnoitra seemed to take special pleasure in piercing him repeatedly. Shiro had some nasty scars down his sides from Nnoitra deciding he wanted to do corset piercing on him. He'd done it wrong, and then left them in too long. The marks would never heal all the way, Shiro knew.

"How'd you get mixed up in this shit?" Shiro asked, glancing at the closed door behind them.

Both Grimmjow and Szayel was in there with Aizen and Nnoitra and a couple of the others. Barragan's girls sat on the other side of the room by the television, and Zommari's spaced out druggie sat staring out the window at the rain like it was the most interesting thing in the world. It was really quiet. It was always quiet.

Illfordt adjusted. "Bad luck, kinda like everyone else around here. Szayel hates it, you know. What he has to do, patching you and him up," he said, nodding at them. "Fixing Barragan's 'mistakes'. He used to be an emergency room doctor, you know. He was doing pretty well. Family, though, you know. Parent's fucked up. So they owed a ton of money to Aizen. Well, they died. And debts don't die with Aizen. So they came for me first, then for Szayel. We paid it back, every penny, but now we can't get out, too damn late, now to do anything," he said with a sigh.

"You got lucky, you work for Grimmjow," Shiro said.

Illfordt nodded. "Yeah, that's an understatement. I see what the others do to their people. I mean, Nnoitra's the worst of the bunch, but I don't know, Barragan and Zommari are pretty damn bad too. I feel for poor Ggio…" he said, staring at this hands.

Shiro frowned. "Ggio? The errand boy?"

Illfordt nodded, glancing about. "Yeah, rumor has it that he's a little more than an errand boy, if you know what I mean. More than once, one of our crew's caught him crying in the bathroom and he won't tell anyone why. I think Barragan's got a little more interest in boys than he admits to, if you know what I mean."

Shiro nodded. "So what exactly do you guys do for Grimmjow?"

Illfordt shrugged. "He's security, you know, so we are usually put on security at Las Noches when Aizen's doing meetings, sometimes we go with him to the poker games, just as insurance that none of the others makes a move on him, and a lot of the time, one of us tails the girl he's friends with, Nel. She's above board, but usually one of us is wandering around the building she works in."

"How many of you are there that work for him?" he said, feeling a shudder go through Ichigo. His eyes were glued to the door. Ichigo knew if they were caught talking like this, they would be in for it. He was listening, but he was also watching the door. He never had the courage to talk to people like Shiro did.

Illfordt smiled. "Well, there's me, and Shawlong, Di Roy, and Edrad. We get along well; though don't tell anyone, Di Roy's a little slow. He hides it," he said nearly whispering. "He thinks we don't know he can't read or write, so we don't let on."

At the name Di Roy, Ichigo looked over. "Di Roy?" he said quietly. "He was in the cages with me."

Illfordt nodded. "Yeah, he was in that group, wasn't he? Poor bastard. Was in the Casino picking pockets when the murder happened, the Shiba one that got that whole group tossed in there except the white haired boy."

Shiro, of course, didn't know of any of this. "Shiba murder?"

Illfordt nodded. "Yeah, back when that one there was kidnapped, there was a murder at the Casino. Aizen caught Kaien Shiba, actually part of the family he and Urahara were from. I guess Shiba was helping his uncle, Urahara, get evidence and get out. Didn't work out so good for Kaien. Aizen murdered him right in the middle of the room next to the poker table. Because there were so many witnesses, they had to do something. A lot of those in the cages were witnesses. Loly and Menoly were cocktail waitresses, Di Roy was there trying to pickpocket, and Tesla was the poker dealer. And then the police witness, Daniel Hisagi, ended up dropping his testimony because Aizen had his brother, Shuuhei. Of course, the lead investigator was Byakuya Kuchiki, and he dropped the case when he grabbed his lover and his sister."

Shiro nodded. "That's some organization."

Ichigo swallowed. "So he was related to me, the guy that got murdered, huh?" he said quietly, frowning. "I never knew."

The door opened and Ichigo dropped his head, while Shiro glanced over as the pink haired Szayel came out and slammed it, a look of annoyance on his face. "Come on Illfordt," he said as he walked by. "I'm fucking done today," he said.

Illfordt got up and followed him, nodding to the two on the couch. A few minutes later, Tesla came into the room. Tesla saw the door was closed and came and stood beside Shiro and Ichigo. "How are you two?" he said quietly under his breath.

Shiro snorted. "Well, considering that your boss is a sadistic fucking bastard, just peachy," he muttered.

Ichigo tightened his grip on Shiro's arm. "Shh, don't talk like that," he said.

Tesla nodded. "No, it's okay. I…I don't know what to think about him anymore. He's gotten out of control," he said quietly.

Tesla had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Witnessing the murder of Kaien Shiba had ended his life as he knew it. He had no idea why Nnoitra wanted him as his errand boy, but it was obvious he couldn't use Ichigo to do anything like that. At least he didn't have to worry about him touching him as long as Ichigo and Shiro were there. He shivered at that thought. He flinched as the door opened and Nnoitra came out with the others.

Ichigo bit his lip and gripped Shiro. He hoped there wasn't bad news from the meeting again. That usually didn't bode well for Nnoitra's pets.

_Present_

_Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 – 7:30 pm_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Ichigo woke and sighed. Zaraki looked at him and smiled.

"No nightmare?" he asked gently.

Ichigo shook his head. "Memories, better than usual," he said quietly. "When we were just together and safe with each other."

Zaraki nodded, and ran his hands through his hair but said nothing. He wouldn't admit, even to himself, that his heart was breaking a little every time Ichigo spoke about Shiro and how things had been. Ichigo eventually emerged from the bedroom and saw Shiro again that night at dinner, after much encouragement from Zaraki. He was almost frozen when his eyes laid on him as they sat down across from him.

"Ichi-baby, I know, I'm sorry I couldn't come to you sooner," Shiro said finally.

Ichigo nodded. He was still not entirely sure that he wasn't still dreaming. "I'm just afraid it's all a dream and I never got out with master," he said quietly, glancing at Zaraki who flinched when he called him master. Ichigo's hands went to the collar and fingered it absently. It was a source of comfort no doubt.

Shiro smiled. "I know, my dear, I know. But it will be alright, I'll make sure of that, okay? The bastard won't hurt you, or anyone, ever again, once my plan goes into action."

Zaraki looked at him. "What plan?"

Shiro put a finger to his lips and whispered shh. Ichigo's eyes went wide and he froze.

_Flashback_

_Wednesday, April 9th, 2008_

_Espada Compound_

"Shh," Loly said, putting a finger to her lips as she sat down beside him. "I'll unhook you for a bit, just don't tell anyone," she said quietly, removing the leash from the ring on the floor. Ichigo relaxed and leaned back into the sofa.

"Oh my kami thank you," he said quietly.

Nnoitra and Barragan were in the other room discussing something with Aizen and wouldn't be back for a while, leaving Ichigo with Loly and Menoly, Barragan's "pets".

"How have you been?" Menoly said, the one that had the short blonde hair.

Ichigo shook his head. "I can't even begin to say what it is like. He's a sadistic fucking bastard pervert son of a bitch," he said, looking down at the chain that ran into his clothes. "I mean, who does this shit?"

Loly, the dark haired one patted his back. "At least Barragan just uses us as fuck toys."

She rubbed her stomach. "But I gotta tell him I'm pregnant again," she said, sighing.

"Again?" he said. Ichigo had never seen her pregnant. She nodded.

"He gets rid of them. Menoly can't carry babies so he doesn't even both trying to stop her from getting pregnant. He just lets her miscarry," she said, fiddling with her hands.

"That's fucked up," he said quietly, rubbing between his legs at the sore piercings without thinking. He looked up. "Oh, sorry," he said, moving his hand. "I just, I'm so sore, he's been dragging me around all day," he said, covering his face with his hands.

"Honey, don't, it's okay, we're all in the same boat around here," Menoly said, putting an arm around him. "There's no reason to be embarrassed around here. We've all seen and most of us have had worse."

Ichigo nodded. "I know, but I just…I feel like I'm losing myself, you know? That my whole identity…"

He froze when he heard the doorknob. Loly grabbed the leash and snapped it back into place as Ichigo moved forward on the sofa as Nnoitra came out.

Some years later, the three sat again in the same place. Only now, Ichigo wasn't the same person he had been. He'd watched his friend, his only one, die before his eyes, and he just lost the will to fight. Loly and Menoly sat on each side of him and both hugged him, even if he didn't respond more than to press into their gentle touches. It was something he wasn't used to having, so he absorbed them when he could. He never spoke any more unless Nnoitra told him to do so. He never moved unless Nnoitra told him to do so. His life had become about pleasing his master and doing everything to avoid pain. Pain was the only thing real, and he much preferred numbness.

"We're so sorry, sweetie," Loly said, rubbing a hand over his head. "I wish we could have helped you before it was too late."

_Present_

_Thursday, May 22st, 2014 – 5:15 am_

_Rukongai Bus Station_

As dawn broke, a group of four got off a bus. Two men and two young women stepped down, each with a backpack tossed over their shoulders. They headed toward a waiting car that was parked seven blocks west and two blocks north. Inside the car sat the man they were waiting for, Byakuya Kuchiki.

"Kuchiki," Isshin said as he slid into the front seat beside the officer. Karin, Yuzu, and Urahara slid into the back.

He nodded and took off, turning on the noise filter, just in case. "Your son is at the Loftess facility. I'm taking you four there now."

"How is he?" Isshin asked.

Byakuya didn't speak for a long moment. "I know some of what happened. I know Nnoitra had him. He did send me a video a while back to show me his 'progress'," Isshin said.

"I'm relieved you understand the situation he was in. He was with him for the entire time. He's not recovered and is barely able to hold a conversation. The child you knew isn't there, anymore, you need to understand that. He's attached himself to Kenpachi Zaraki, the one that brought him out. He calls him his master, and refuses to do otherwise. He's also calmed by wearing the collar and cuffs that he has on now. This is by his choice, and we felt that it was necessary to not take his sources of comfort he was used to away altogether," Byakuya said as he pulled into the underground garage system.

Urahara spoke. "I can provide you with the locations and codes to get the information I hid when I went into hiding. There's a lot of it."

"Very good," Byakuya said and parked the car. He led them to the retina scanner and they headed up to six. "He reacts violently when pushed, and he often slips into a catatonic state," Byakuya said. "I wouldn't press the issues. He begged for you not to come."

Karin looked at him. "Why?"

"He knows that he isn't the same person he was seven years ago. He feels that you will be ashamed of what he became," he said as the elevator stopped and they stepped off onto the floor.

It was busy with people as it was breakfast. Shiro sat staring out the window and Hanataro and Wonderweiss had set up a pen of sorts for the two chicks they had. Rukia and Renji were in the kitchen arguing over what to cook, and the pink haired ball of energy came running toward them.

"More people!" she said, bouncing from foot to foot.

"Yachiru," Byakuya said. "This is Ichigo's father, Isshin, and his sisters, Karin and Yuzu. This is his uncle Kisuke."

Yachiru's smile faded and she blinked. "Oh, he's having a rough morning, Shiro-chan is still here and he is convinced that he's hallucinating still."

Isshin looked at Byakuya questioningly. "The young albino man was confined with Ichigo. They became very close and when they became…intimate without Nnoitra's permission, he castrated Shiro and nearly beat him to death, forcing Ichigo to watch. He cut his throat and left him for dead, but somehow, he managed to survive it." He looked over at him. "We believe it was at that point Ichigo finally broke and gave up fighting him."

Isshin nodded. To watch someone you care about be destroyed…that would be more than enough to hurt someone. There was a buzz from Byakuya's phone. He answered it. "Send them up."

"It seems you aren't the only ones to arrive today," he said, turning as the elevator opened and four individuals that Isshin hadn't seen in seven years exited.

Orihime ran over and hugged both the girls while Uryuu introduced everyone to Byakuya. Byakuya looked at them all. "I told Ishida, this is not a come and go place. You come and stay or you leave. However, I fear that if you leave your lives may be in danger because of your past relationship with Ichigo."

"We're here to stay," Tatsuki said with a nod of her head. Chad mimicked her without speaking, intertwining his hand in hers.

"Us too, I'm a nurse and Uryuu is a psychiatrist, maybe we can help…" she said as they heard another voice and turned.

"No, out," Zaraki was having an argument with an Ichigo who did not want to leave the room. "I'm not going to argue it," he said. "You come out here."

Ichigo, meanwhile, had awoken from a horrible dream and was still somewhat shaken by it. "M-master…" he whined. "I can't…"

Zaraki, sighed and rubbed his head. "Look, I am not bringing you food, now come out. Yes, Shiro is still here, that doesn't mean you're hallucinating it means he's a fucking tough ass bastard that could survive getting his throat cut. Now out!"

Ichigo winced and grabbed his hand and shuddered. Zaraki sighed. "I'm not going to hit you for not doing what I said," he said, kneeling down and looking at him in the eyes. "Now, I just want you to realize you aren't dreaming, okay?" he said, his one good eye boring into his dark brown ones. Ichigo finally nodded slowly and Zaraki led him into the main area only to stop and stare.

"Kuchiki," he said with more than a small amount of contempt. "You keep bringing new people in here, he can't tolerate it as it is, " he said with a definite growl to his voice as Ichigo attempted to take up as little space as he could beside him, staring at his toes and ignoring the room around him.

"Zaraki…this is…" he said and saw that Isshin was crying openly now.

"S-son…?" Isshin said, stepping forward tentatively.

Ichigo shook his head, pulling back in Zaraki's grip. "Nobody's son," he muttered. "Nobody's family, baby boy is master's…"

Isshin's eyes went wide and he looked up at the much larger man. Zaraki chewed his lip. "Ichi, come on, your family is here."

"Have no family," he said, trying to pull out of Zaraki's grip and refusing to look up. Zaraki had a hold of him though and he wasn't going anywhere.

"You do, Ichigo, and they're right here," he said, grabbing him and pulling him in front of him and forcing his head up.

His eyes locked on his father, then his sisters each, and to his uncle, then over to his four closest friends and he twitched a couple times in Zaraki's strong grip. Shiro got up and ran over when he saw it.

"Let him go," he said, dropping to his knees as Ichigo's legs gave up and holding his face. "Ichi-babe, come on, come out of it…" he said slowly, seeing the twitch in the corner of his eye again. He looked back at them. "It happened a couple times while I was with him. He…shuts down. It's like he turns his mind off. He did it when he was getting the worst punishments from Nnoitra, but he always has trouble coming out of it. Before I knew what he was doing, he spent two days like this and I had no idea what to do."

Everyone glanced at him and back to Zaraki who watched carefully. Shiro pulled him against his chest. "Shh, Ichi-baby, come on sweet. You don't have to hide from them."

After a long time of Shiro speaking softly and rocking him, Ichigo's eyes blinked slowly and then he screeched, and shoved himself off Shiro and scrambled away into Zaraki's legs. He was sobbing and hyperventilating as Zaraki lifted him up.

"Yachiru!" he called. "Bring me the valium, he's gonna need it," he said, trying to hold to him. Yachiru walked up and stabbed the needle into his thigh with a nod and took the used needle back. Moments later, he began to calm and went limp in Zaraki's arms. He moved him to hold him across him with an arm under his back and the other under his knees. His eyes fluttered and he looked up at Zaraki.

"Master, I'm dreaming again," he said softly.

"Ichigo, no you aren't dreaming," he said gently, holding him against him.

"That's what you always say," he muttered, and fell into a deep sleep again.


	9. A Coming Storm

**On Blade's Edge**

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

_A Coming Storm_

* * *

_Present_

_Thursday, May 22st, 2014 – 7:00 am_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Zaraki woke that early morning to choked sobs. He came awake immediately and found Ichigo in the bathroom, sitting in the bath full of scalding water. He frowned and knelt beside the steaming water. Ichigo was clutching his knees to his chest and sobbing with his face buried in his knees. Zaraki put a hand on his head and he went stiff and looked up slowly.

"Master, I'm sorry," he whispered. "I woke you."

Zaraki shook his head. "No, that's fine, that's fine. Are you having a rough time?" he asked, knowing better than to ask a stupid question like if he was okay. The answer to that of course was a resounding no. He wasn't okay. He was not going to be okay for a long time.

"I dreamed of him," he said, blinking. "His hands and the times he was gentle, not the other times," he said in an almost hollow voice. "He would touch my hair sometimes, like you do," he said, grabbing Zaraki by the wrist and putting his large hand on his head and rubbing against it. "And I just…I wanted him to do it like that, to keep touching me just like that…" he said, looking into the water at his reddened hands. "And then he had times he would touch me so softly and…and he'd say things…like how much I meant to him…and I believed him, I don't think he lied…" he said, turning teary eyes up at Zaraki. "Master, I loved him," he said. "How…how can I love someone…someone that did such horrible things…things so bad that I can't speak them…?"

Zaraki rubbed his damp hair softly. "Ichi-babe, look, you spent seven years with him. And maybe, maybe he did love you in his own twisted way. I don't know, babe. I really don't."

Ichigo nodded. He stood up and looked down at Zaraki suddenly and stepped out and slid down onto his lap and stared at him.

"Fuck me," he said, looking into Zaraki's face.

Zaraki blinked. "What?" he asked, brows meeting in confusion. "What the hell are saying?"

"You're my master, so you should, you…need to. I need you to. I have to know you want me, as yours…" he said, starting to writhe on Zaraki's clothed legs.

"Oh no," Zaraki said, standing and lifting Ichigo up easily in one smooth move, water dripping everywhere from his bare skin. "I am not going to 'fuck' you."

"You don't love me," Ichigo said as Zaraki plopped him on the bed.

"Love has nothing to do with this. I don't 'fuck' anyone," he said, glaring with one eye at him. "I have a hell of a lot more respect for the people I lay with than to just 'fuck' them. Bastards like Nnoitra fuck people. They take advantage of people and force them to do things they don't want to do and things they shouldn't have to do, they fuck people just to satisfy their own needs. I refuse to do any such thing."

Ichigo blinked at him. "But…but if you don't…what am I supposed to do?" he asked quietly, staring down at his bare legs. "I'm to be used for your pleasure, and others if you choose it…I…don't know any other way to exist. If I can't please you, what good am I? My body is all I have, all I can offer to make you stay, to keep you with me, to…to take care of me."

Zaraki's heart clenched tight again. Dammit, why did Yachiru have to be right all the goddamned time? Sometimes he hated how smart his little sister was. Instead, Zaraki knelt beside the bed.

"Ichigo, look," he said, sliding his hands up his thighs. Ichigo didn't move, only watched him curiously. "This?" he said, touching him and running the pad of his finger over the unhealed piercings in the shaft and head of his cock, and then to the mostly healed marks on his inner thighs that were leaving thick, deep scars. "All this? This isn't love. This is torture." Zaraki moved and sat down beside him and touched his belly and the healing places from the surface piercings they'd removed. "So is this." He trailed his hands up to his chest, and again, paused, touching the roughly healing places, some of which were going to scar significantly where dermal implants had been ripped out of his chest. "And this." Zaraki's hand went and trailed over the deep wounds that had been stitched and would take weeks more to heal on his back and sides. "And these."

Zaraki then moved his hands to his face and trailed his finger across the healing brows, nose, cheeks, and lips, pausing at the corner where one of the lip piercings had been roughly ripped out and the skin had taken a few stitches to hold it together. "All this was torture, Ichi-babe, not love, not love at all. You spent seven years with this bastard. He _hurt_ you more than I believe you can ever say. And him fucking you, that wasn't love, that was him using you to satisfy his sick and twisted perversion, just like all this crap he did to you."

Ichigo looked away, tears welling again and biting down on his lip. "But wh-who would want someone that…that can't tell the diff-difference between love and t-torture?" he said quietly. "I can't tell the difference, I can't…I can't…I don't know where my wants are anymore. I don't…I don't know, and I need someone, you, I need you to tell me! All this…" he said, touching his face and body. "All this m-meant he-he loved me enough to m-mark me and others would know that I b-belonged to him and…and…"

Zaraki put a hand under his chin and lifted his face. "Ichi, sweetie, no, you didn't belong to him, you don't belong to me, you don't belong to anyone. You never did. Ichi, you got to realize, what he did was wrong, all of it. He was bad. He was terrible to you and you never deserved it. You deserved to be loved and cared for, and not in the perverse and twisted way that bastard did it."

This close, Zaraki was sure that the boy might never really recover. His eyes were so hollow, so broken. Yet, there was still a spark in those brown eyes. There was something in there, something Nnoitra hadn't been able to kill. Before he knew it, Zaraki leaned forward and put a soft, chaste kiss against his lips. Ichigo blinked rapidly as he pulled back and looked at him.

It was simple. Ichigo's hand went to his lips and he stared at Zaraki for a long moment. He swallowed and nodded. He closed his eyes and leaned forward, confident that a pair of strong arms were going to catch him. And they did.

_Thursday, May 22st, 2014 – 10:00 am_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Isshin and Urahara sat across from the albino and stared. Shiro had been telling them what it was like with Nnoitra, and Isshin was sure he was going to be ill the more he listened. The girls were over looked at the two baby chicks with the young man named Hanataro and the other boy named Wonderweiss. The blue haired man from Aizen's organization was also sitting there with his girlfriend Nel. Renji, Rukia and Byakuya sat to the side, and Ishida and Zaraki rounded out the group. Ichigo was sleeping, still out from the dose of valium he'd gotten the evening before and from his exhaustion. Yachiru was sitting in the room reading in case he woke up.

"Nnoitra was obsessed with him," Shiro said, smoking a cigarette slowly, staring out the false window. "I don't know why, not for sure, but I think it was because he never really broke, not really. I mean, fuck, man, he had to put a goddamn ring through his cock to get him to lead right on a leash. That's pretty fucking resistant, don't you think?" he said, smiling and looking at the shocked looks on some of those there.

Grimmjow shook his head. "He was a fucking bastard," he said. "I…I refused. Every time. Me, Starrk, Szayel, we refused when he wanted to share, as he put it. Fuck, we couldn't stop it, no matter how wrong it was. I mean, fucking Szayel put him back together so many times when Nnoitra nearly beat him to death. And he tried to save Shiro…" he paused. "Wait. It was Szayel that said you were dead," he said looking up, suddenly. "That mother fucker. That's how you lived long enough to get to a hospital. Szayel must have done something, and lied about you being dead. No one else would have known, and Aizen and Nnoitra would have trusted Szayel's word. I moved your body, and I couldn't tell the difference, but Szayel knew what he was doing. He could have drugged you with something to slow your heart down long enough to make it look like you were dead. I mean, when we took your body you still had the stuff Szayel used to try and save you, we wouldn't have known."

Shiro nodded. "It would make sense. Szayel was the only one with medical know how, and he always did his best to patch me and Ichi up nice. He wasn't with Aizen because he wanted to be, either."

Nel nodded. "We talked you know," she said quietly. "Me and Tier and a couple of her girls. We talked about how wrong it was. She knew what was going on and she hated everything she knew. But she never said anything," she said, running a hand over her head. "And she was the one that told me to leave when I found out I was pregnant."

Grimmjow nodded. "Without Ichigo, Aizen is going to move fast. He knows that you two will be drawn out. He knows that Byakuya has him. I know he doesn't know where. He blames Nnoitra. Chances are at the meeting they have, Nnoitra's dead."

"I don't think so. Nnoitra's too valuable alive," Shiro said. "He's a bastard. And he's mine to kill, not Aizen's," Shiro said, looking away. "I owe him a lot of pain," he said softly. "More than I can even speak aloud."

Wonderweiss looked up. "Pain is my favorite tool," he said suddenly, looking vacantly across the room as he played with the chick in his lap. "Effective tool, keeps them in line," he said hollowly then turned back to the chick.

"That's not creepy or anything," Isshin said, glancing at the blonde boy.

"He does that, echoes things he's heard. He was A's slave like Ichigo was Nnoitra's, though A didn't take sexual advantage of him, just used his number ability to scam gambling money off people," Nel said, looking over at him.

"Don't care, don't care," Wonderweiss said, shaking his head. "Just don't kill him, Nnoi, don't kill him, do anything, can't die that's all," he muttered.

Shiro looked at him. "He's comfortable. He hasn't been talking because of that. He knows that no one is going to hurt him here," he said, looking back. "Nnoi used to complain about the way A treated him. About how he didn't care about him. He claimed to care about Ichigo."

Grimmjow nodded, drinking from his glass. "Yeah, he swore he loved him. I've seen it. This weird look on his face when he was afraid that he'd killed him. I swear the only time that perverted bastard was afraid was those times."

"Why?" Isshin said, looking around the table. "Why Ichigo?"

Nel smiled and shook her head. "Because, to be honest, he looked like Nnoitra's mother. That's what first drew him. The hair color was why he asked Aizen if he could have him in the first place from what I found out. At the very beginning, when he was kidnapped, before he even woke up in Aizen's compound, Nnoitra begged Aizen for him to be given over to him. Aizen resisted at first, putting Nnoitra off. Eventually though, he used it as a tool to control Nnoitra."

Grimmjow nodded. "Yeah, I heard about that. He fucking murdered this woman that tried to put her hands on him. Came back and beat Ichigo nearly to death. Took Szayel fifty stitches before the night was over, and a bag of blood. Szayel wasn't sure he could save him, but he pulled through. Kept going on about how the bitch had orange hair like his bitch mother."

"It was deeper than that," Shiro said, looking around. "I did some digging after I got out of the hospital; know your enemy and everything. His mother was put away when he was sixteen and charged with sexual and physical abuse of a minor. She was shanked within a week. Guess it came out she'd beat him pretty much his whole life, and had been using him for sex. When he was sixteen she broke his jaw and he told the cops everything. That's how Aizen found him, after he was out on the streets, he was buying every rent boy he could that would let him have a rough fuck, and Aizen picked up on it. Brought him in, fed him, clothed him, gave him a job, and then, before long he worked his way up to being in charge of human trafficking. He was perfect. He had no interest in the females, so the virgins were safe, and he had no problem beating and raping any of the males that got out of line."

Grimmjow nodded. "When I came in, he was already there."

"He's messed up in the head," Shiro said. "He's fucked. And that kind of fucked up there is no return from."

Uryuu, who had been quiet, spoke up finally. "How do we help Ichigo? I mean, understanding the one who did this to him is great and all, but how do we help him? I'm at a loss. This…this is beyond my purview."

"Honey," Shiro said looking up. "This shit is beyond everyone's purview."

_Thursday, May 22st, 2014 – 11:00 am_

_Espada Compound_

Ggio Vega looked down at his phone in utter shock. The message was from Tier. He swallowed and sped down the corridor and into the room where Findorr and the others were feeding the animals. He was supposed to be carrying a message back to the mole in the police department, but he had to stop and talk to Findorr and the others first. It had been too long, and he was so tired of this. He wanted out. He'd wanted out for so long. He was barely sending enough money back home to support his family. He couldn't tell them what he was doing, and they worried over that. Recently, his mother had said they had been moved to Costa Rica because the cartel violence had gotten too much for them in Mexico. He was tired of being the errand boy and he was tired of dealing with Barragan's women and the accidents. Most of all, though, he was tired of the other duties he had.

It was so stupid. He'd been young, only fourteen, when he was on the way home from the market in his home in Jalisco. It wasn't the best place, but they did okay. Then he heard screaming, and he did the stupidest thing in the world. He went to see what was going on. He'd come to an alley and saw a big man holding another man against the wall. He turned to run but someone grabbed him. He tried to yell but it was too late, he'd already seen the man who was standing against the wall pouring something over a screaming man. Acid, it turned out, he found out later he'd been a Mexican diplomat that had bought one of Barragan's prostitutes and killed her. Barragan didn't appreciate his girls being killed. That cost him money. He'd looked at Ggio and nodded to the other man, Choe, actually, and the world went blank. He woke up in Rukongai, Japan with a raging headache, and was told that he now had two choices. Die for witnessing the acid dousing Barragan had given the man in Mexico, or stay and work for him. He'd stayed, and Barragan let him send a little money to his family in compensation for kidnapping him.

Ggio came into the room and shut the door behind him. Findorr Callius, Choe Neng Poww, Abirama Redder, and Nirgge Parudoc were all in the large barn sized warehouse room. Each one was tending to the various exotic animals in the smuggling ring. Findorr preferred the cats over the rest of the animals, but he also liked the small mammals, and Abirama liked any of the birds. Choe had taken a liking to anything aquatic and Nirgge had a love for the reptiles and snakes. Of course, when no one was looking, they played with all the animals. Findorr was sitting with a pair of lion cubs on his lap giving them bottles, while Abirama was tending to a set of exotic parrots they were smuggling in. They all looked up and saw Ggio's flushed face.

"What is it?" Findorr said, frowning as he looked up.

"The cold. We're going in from the cold," he said softly and looking at each of those in the room.

Four wide eyed stares looked back. "We are?" Findorr asked, his heart rate skyrocketing from that one phrase.

"Yeah, yeah, got it today," he said, holding up the phone.

They all knew what it meant. Harribel had been called in. That meant a major Shinigami bust was going to happen in the next forty-eight hours. The only reason for Harribel to go in was a major, Aizen capturing bust. They knew beyond a doubt what had triggered it. The Shinigami had the orange haired boy, the nephew to Urahara, the one man who could put Aizen down for good. Aizen had no leverage over him any longer. If Harribel was going in, that meant beyond a doubt that the time was coming.

"Will they be okay?" Nirgge asked, feeding eggs to the exotic snakes. "I mean, they'll take care of the animals, right?"

Ggio nodded. "They will, I gotta go, just wanted you to be ready."

Ggio slipped back out to continue his duties. Barragan couldn't know that anything was happening. It had to be kept very quiet or it wasn't going to work. Harribel knew, though. She knew who was helping. She knew who was innocent. And she knew who was guilty. He swallowed and composed himself as he went into the room where Loly and Menoly lounged on the chaise lounges nearly nude. They looked up, and Ggio placed the Plan B box on the table. Before either got up he looked up.

"We're going to be warm soon," he said quietly, and left.

Both women stared after him before Loly got up and ripped open the box, taking it to the toilet and flushing it away. No more, she thought, looking back at Menoly who had tears gathering in her eyes. No more. It was time for them to be warm.

Ggio went back to his room and stared at the phone, picking it up a moment later and dialing his mother.

"_Mama_," he said as he heard her voice.

"_Mijo_! It has been so long, how are you?" she said, and by the sound she was cooking.

"I'm good, _mama_, just wanted to hear your voice. How is _Pappi_?" he asked.

"Been better, the doctors say he may walk again, but the accident…_oi_! Out of the _carne asada_!" she yelled and there was a smack followed by a whine from his little sister. She was nine now. She'd only just been born when Ggio had been taken away from Mexico. He'd called his mom after he disappeared and told her he'd found work and that's where he'd gone. It was somewhat true.

"_Tu hermanita_ is such a handful! When will you come home, _mijo_?" she asked like every time.

"Soon, _mama_, soon," he said, looking out the window. "I don't know exactly when, but I promise, _mama_, soon."

"Okay, _mijo_, as long as you promise. Never break a promise to _mama_!"

"_Nunca, mama_," he said, smiling. "_Te amo, y adios_."

"_Adios, y te amo mucho_," she said.

Ggio put down his phone and sighed. He hoped the Shinigami would listen when he told them why he was working for Barragan. He hoped they would send him home to his family. He didn't care about staying. He was more than happy at being deported. He didn't even want to be here in Japan to start with. There was only one place he wanted to be. Now that he was stuck, he just did what he could to help them. He just wanted to take care of his family. He fell back into the bed and looked at the time. Just after lunch. Time was so slow sometimes. He looked out the window and saw the clouds beginning to gather. There was a storm coming, in more than one way. The Typhoon was supposed to pass them by. Perhaps the weatherman had been wrong about that. It wouldn't have been the first time.

_Thursday, May 22st, 2014 – 1:00 pm_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Karin and Yuzu sat with Orihime and Arisawa in the large living area and waited. What else was there to do? They didn't recognize the person that was in the other room.

"What do we do?" Karin said finally. Lunch had been quiet after the discussion the others had after breakfast. None of them were talking.

"We do what we have to do. We help him however we can," Yuzu said. "He's still our brother, Karin," Yuzu said quietly.

Karin sighed. "Yuzu, that isn't our brother anymore. I don't know what that is in the other room. That's not our brother," she said softly.

"Don't say that," Arisawa said, looking up. "Don't say that, that's Ichigo. He just doesn't remember it yet," she said, chewing on her lip. "He's in there, he's scared, and we have to let him know that we understand that. He's been tortured and…worse."

Orihime clutched her friend's hand. "I'm…I'm going to try and talk to him," she said, standing up.

He hadn't left his room that day so far. Ichigo was afraid of so many people, so many expectations. Zaraki had relented and let him stay in the bedroom to eat. He now sat beside the bed as he ate slowly. He still wasn't used to so much food. He jumped, nearly upsetting the tray when there was a knock at the door. Zaraki stood slowly and pulled it open, making sure to stand where Ichigo couldn't see whoever it was. He nodded and stepped back to let Orihime in.

Ichigo glanced at her and back at his food and decided to finish or Zaraki would be angry at him. Orihime moved and sat at the end of the bed and watched him quietly. Finally Ichigo moved and sat back crosslegged on the bed and looked up at her. Zaraki was watching them both.

Orihime smiled gently. "Ichigo, I missed you," she said softly.

Ichigo nodded, glancing at Zaraki who nodded to him again. "Y-yeah, me too…" he said finally, trying to look anywhere but her face.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't find you, we tried, and…" she paused when his brows knitted together in obvious distress. She looked to Zaraki who was still just watching them. "Um, I guess I should tell you about me and Uryuu, we're together now, you know. And Chad and Tatsuki got together."

Ichigo nodded. "Nice," he said, fiddling with his fingernails.

"Uryuu's going to be a psychiatrist, and I'm a nurse," she continued, wanting to move toward him but knowing that it wasn't time for such things. "We've got a nice life together."

Ichigo looked up and smiled at her a little. "I'm glad," he said softly.

"Ichigo, we, all of us, we love you, you know that right?" she said finally, looking up at him.

He swallowed and shook his head. "I…I'm not who I was…you don't know me anymore," he said slowly, looking up with a wounded look. "How…how do you know that you love…m-m-me?"

She smiled gently at him. "You're Ichigo, that's all you'll ever be to us," she said softly.

He nodded, looking away. "I just, I just…things are diff-different now. I-I-I can't do the things I used to do. I just…just want to b-be safe and I c-can't be…"

"You are safe," Orihime said. "They can't get to you here."

He turned to her and frowned. "I'm not safe, no one is safe around me, don't you get it? He'll find me, and he'll…he'll punish me again, and I don't think I can do it anymore! H-he'll kill anyone that helped me, he'd do that, he'd do that. I can't let you down again…" he said, putting his hands on his face and rocking.

Zaraki got up and sat beside him, putting one large arm around him. "Ichi-babe, come on. He can't find you. And if he does, let him come. I already promised to break his fucking neck."

Ichigo nodded. "I just…I just can't…see a life without him," he said. "He broke me, why would anyone want me, I'm broken, so broken, there's nothing left, nothing of me, nothing…glass to sand and he ground away the grains of sand…" he said with a soft sob into Zaraki's shoulder.

Orihime was having a hard time not crying herself but she held on for him. "Ichigo, no matter how broken, we'll help you, we'll put you back together, if you'll let us," she said softly.

"No one can help me anymore," he said quietly, not moving from Zaraki's arms.

Zaraki ran a hand over his head and felt him relax into the touch. "Ichi-baby, I think you should listen. I know it's hard after all the shit he stuffed in your head. You are more than your body, you are more than a thing to be used, you are so much more and I knew that when they tossed you on the floor of that office at me. I knew what they'd done to you and I didn't care, still don't care. Yachiru tells me I've got a white knight complex, the more trouble and damaged a person, the more likely I am to take them into my arms. Ichi-babe, you are probably the most damaged person I've ever seen, and that means, according to my bratty little sister, I won't let you go anytime soon. I want to help because I know what the fucker did, Ichi. I want to help because I saw what he did. I knew what he was, Ichi. I know how bad it was. I saw you, I've read all the files, and I don't give a fuck."

Ichigo looked up at him. "Why?"

"Because when you looked up at me that first time, bruised and pierced to hell and back, there was something in your eyes, a spark that told me clearly, you weren't as broken as everyone thought you were. That's why," Zaraki said, nodding definitively at him.

Ichigo nodded. "He said…he said he couldn't get rid of it."

"Of course not," Zaraki said with a sigh, not needing further explanation on that issue.

Orhime nodded and stood. "I'll see you later," she said, seeing that Ichigo was at his limit.

She closed the door behind her and ran to Uryuu and began sobbing in his arms. No one asked why. They all knew. It took a little while but she sighed and sat down with the others. Uryuu looked up as a man in a paramedic uniform came through the elevator doors looking around.

Uryuu went over to him. "Yeah, can I help you?"

"We were sent up with a patient that was to be installed in one of the rooms up here?" he said, frowning and looking around.

Uryuu nodded. "Luppi from the main hospital, right?" he said.

Byakuya had someone come by that morning and equip one of the rooms for Luppi's hospital bed and the thing's he'd need. Orihime nodded and came up, but everyone else stayed back so they could get their work done. The Paramedics wheeled the bed out of the freight elevator next to the regular one a few moments later and got him set up under Orihime and Uryuu's purview.

Uryuu sat down beside the bed and smiled at him. "How are you Luppi?" he asked.

"The thunder and rain bothers me," he said frowning as he looked around. "I can't hear it as much in here. It looks like fury."

Orihime nodded. "This place is pretty noiseproof. It would have to get really loud for us to hear it in here. Why do you think it bothers you?" she said, checking the IV lines and plugging everything in.

"Reminds me of El Salvador," he said quietly and suddenly a howl of wind could be heard. The highest level, where they were, had some small windows to the outside up very high where the gathering clouds could be seen and rain fell soundlessly.

"Is that where you were from originally?" Uryuu said, grabbing the notepad and writing it down.

Luppi nodded. "Storms, it sounds like fire raining, you know. Grew up in La Libertad. It was a dirty place, you know. Grew up in the streets, grew up alone, really. Well, I had a few friends…before I decided it was better to not have them because they got swept away into the ocean…" Luppi shivered, wincing as he ran his hands over his bandaged heat. "And now, I see the thunder, it looks like fire and it is going to consume everything," he said, looking frightful at Uryuu.

Uryuu nodded. "How about I see if someone wants to come sit with you for a while?"

Luppi nodded. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

Uryuu nodded and grabbed Rose by the arm. For someone, out of all the Visored they'd gathered, he seemed the most empathetic of the bunch. Rose looked at him.

"Rose, Luppi could use someone to sit with him," he said quietly. "He's recovering from LSD addiction. Zommari left him outside the hospital after he walked out a window in a bad trip. He's in traction for his legs for now, but he's having a hard time with this storm."

Rose smiled. "Certainly, I'll sit with him."

Rose went in and smiled at him. "Good day, Luppi, is it?" he asked, sitting down in the chair Uryuu vacated. Orihime smiled and left too.

Luppi looked at him, peeling his eyes away from the high window. "Yeah," he said, smiling. "Such a pretty voice," he said, watching as the nearly musical looking tones escaped Rose's lips. "What's your name?"

Rose smiled. "I go by Rose these days. I left my old self behind a long time ago," he said smiling and pulling his long hair back and tying it up. "Shiro rescued me from Nnoitra's warehouse."

Luppi smiled and nodded. "Ah, so you know all about what it is like, huh?" he said.

Rose nodded slowly. "Want to talk about what you went through?"

Luppi nodded. "Sure, what I can remember…" he said and started talking for the first time in a long time about his past.

_2:00 pm_

Shiro stood silently away from everyone else. He knew what he had to do. He turned as Shinji came up behind him. He had the plans laid out in his head, and now when he got the things he needed…

"You're sure?" Shinji asked, quietly, handing him a bag.

Shiro nodded. "I am. I have to get to him before the Shinigami. He won't cut a deal. For what he's done, he is not going to live the rest of his life in the safety of a prison. No, he will pay dearly."

"I don't understand how you'll get in, Shiro," Shinji said quietly, glancing behind him.

The rest of their group was in various states of repose throughout the room. Hiyori's attention, though, was on him. He knew that. Hiyori always watched Shinji. From the beginning, she'd seen the fragility in the blond that no one else had seen. She knew that he'd been tortured by Nnoitra, and couldn't imagine the scars that left behind. He was like her big brother. Because of this, she knew that the thought of losing Shiro, the one person he looked up to in the world, was killing him inside.

"I have an in. The same one I used to get you all out," he said thoughtfully without looking in the bag. "I know what I'm doing, Shinji. You need to stop worrying so much. Just remember, I won't be coming back after this," he said, nodding to him.

Shiro ignored the rest and went to Ichigo's room and knocked gently. Zaraki opened it and arched a brow. "I need to see him," he said quietly. Zaraki nodded and stepped back.

Ichigo was having Orihime change his dressings, so far the only person besides Zaraki and Yachiru he'd allowed to do it. It seemed their earlier talk had done some good and he was letting her in, at least. He looked up and locked eyes on Shiro as he sat on the end of the bed.

"Ichi, honey, I just want you to know you were the best thing that ever happened to me," he said, smiling his pale lips at him. Ichigo didn't move but only watched him, still obviously unsure that he was real. "Before you, I didn't love anyone. My life was lonely and hollow and that's just how it was. Then I thought it couldn't get worse when I got captured. Then there you were. No matter how much the bastard tried, you didn't give up. You never gave in. No, not even when he murdered me in front of you, you didn't give in, not all the way. You pretended, you acted, and you protected yourself, my beautiful Kuro. You were my only thought when I hauled myself out of that dumpster. You were the only thing in my head, when I couldn't breathe because of the pain. No, you were always there, up here," he said, tapping his skull.

"Shinji and the others, they knew I was insane. I am, you know. I heard you, saw you even sitting beside me. I shattered that day when he used me to hurt you. I could take anything except being an instrument used against you. I decided that my life was over. He took everything from me. He took you, he took my sanity, and he took my soul. But that's okay," he said, leaning forward and putting a pale hand against Ichigo's cheek where tears had started to fall. "It is just fine because I'm dead, Ichi. But the one thing I won't have is you tainted by the hatred that broke my sanity. No, not at all. You, you stay here. You love your family, you love this big lug," he said jerking his head toward Zaraki.

"Love, Ichi. We're both standing on the edge of the blade. One way leads to life, and living with your heart full and loving and just being. The other way, it leads to vengeance, hatred and death, so much death, Ichi-love. No, here, here we separate. I won't let you fall off the blade into the dark. So I'm going there, and I'm pushing you off the other side into the light."

Shiro stood and moved in front of Ichigo to stand between his knees and kissed him, long, deep, and passionately. Ichigo's hands moved to rest on his sides and Shiro held his face, caressing his cheeks with pale thumbs. They broke apart panting, and Shiro laid his forehead on Ichigo's. "Never forget. I loved you, and only you, with all my broken heart." He smiled and kissed Ichigo's forehead gently before he turned and left, leaving everyone to stare after him.

Ichigo reached up and wiped away tears as he stared at the doorway he'd just left. Zaraki sat down beside him, feeling more than a little uncomfortable at what he'd just heard and seen. How could he begin to think he had any right to Ichigo's affections? Shiro and him, they had something that was so special and… Before the thought even completed Ichigo turned and buried his face in Zaraki's chest and sobbed loudly.

"What is it?" Zaraki said. "He said he loves you, why are you crying?"

Ichigo shook his head. "He was saying good-bye," Ichigo gasped after a few minutes. "He's not coming back. He-he always promised that he'd kill N-N…him. He'd kill him. H-h-he didn't want me to go into the darkness….he-he said it was his job…n-not mine… He's gone, he's not coming back…he plans to die with him."

Zaraki's eyes widened and he glanced at Orihime who got up and ran out into the front area. "Shiro?" she called, looking around. She didn't see him. "Where did he go?" she called.

Uryuu came up and shook his head. "I don't know…he was here a minute ago…"

"He's gone," Shinji said quietly from the area near the door. "He left. He's going after Nnoitra before the bust. I don't know where, or how, he just said he had an insider to help him."

Lisa looked up from her book. "You won't find him, he's a ghost when he wants to be," she said with a sigh. "It's the only thing he lives for, revenge."

"Revenge for his Kuro," Rose said, turning around and flipping his long light colored hair over his shoulder. "He doesn't want it for himself. That makes him far more dangerous than anyone realizes."

Chad, who sat with Tatsuki leaning into his shoulder looked up and spoke for the first time. "Revenge for oneself is hollow, empty, and cold. Revenge for one's love is ripe, full, and burns with fury."

No one said anything else because they all knew that Chad's statement was right.

7:30 pm

Ichigo sat in the room and looked up as the door was knocked upon. Zaraki stood and nodded to the person on the other side. It was Ichigo's father with a tray of food for dinner. Ichigo looked away immediately. Isshin sat the food down on the small table and sat down on the bed beside him.'

"Son, I know you're scared," he said softly. Zaraki refused to leave, especially after the incident the day before with him attempting to shut down completely on them. So far, as long as he was here, inside their room, he seemed to be okay, but out there, in the larger room, he struggled.

Ichigo nodded. "I…I'm not who you think I am," he whispered finally.

Isshin frowned. "Who are you, then?"

"I'm…I'm broken and I don't know that I can be fixed," he said, his voice starting to become surer the more he spoke. "I don't know who I am, my…my identity has been l-lost for a long time. I am trying…so hard…to find myself. I want to be the person…the person that st-stood outside that soccer field, b-but I'm not that person…not anymore."

Isshin nodded. "Son, it's been seven years. None of us are the same people we were then."

"But me, I'm not…I'm not anything. I'm a slave, I don't know how to be anything except what I'm told, I just…I just I'm nothing anymore. I keep nothing here," he said, putting a hand on his heart. "I can't. I can't trust what I feel, what I think…he loved me, he promised me, promised he'd be here, and now…now I'm not with him and I don't…seven years," he said finally, sighing deeply. "Really, it was seven years?"

"It was son. Seven long years," Isshin said, reaching out and putting a hand on Ichigo's slack one where it lay on the bed.

"Felt like so much longer," Ichigo said, unconsciously rubbing at healing wounds on his body. "I'm marked, destroyed, soiled, filthy, the things I've done…" he said looking up. "The things I begged him to let me do…"

"Ichigo, don't," Isshin said, gripping his hand. "You did what you had to do to survive and keep your sanity."

"But did I keep it?" he said softly, looking at Zaraki. "I can't…I can't move without him. I can't think without him. How…how do you accept that?"

"How do I accept what? That you are attached to the man here? Well, I do think the feeling must be mutual or he would not be here any longer. Ichigo I want whatever makes you feel safe. If he makes you feel safe, you can spend the rest of your life with him," Isshin said with a soft smile.

Ichigo looked between them and shook his head. "D-do you?" he said, finally, looking up at Zaraki.

Zaraki was trying to maintain his tough persona in front of Ichigo's father. But that look, and those words, cracked that exterior. He moved before he thought, sitting behind him and sweeping the smaller man into his lap and wrapping his arms around his waist.

"I'm here, aren't I?" he said. "My sis, she knew. Everyone I date is damaged. I want to help. I want to light that spark again," he said. "I see it, when you think it's dead. There's something there that Nnoitra couldn't kill, no matter how he tried. I see it when you fight to keep others away for their own good. I see it when you think of everyone before yourself. You aren't lost as you think, babe. Not near as lost as you think."

Ichigo nodded and leaned against him for a moment, comforted by the warmth he gave. Isshin stood up and patted Ichigo's leg gently. "You eat, and rest, son. There are more tomorrows to talk of this," he said softly and left, shutting the door behind him.

"Do you mean it?" Ichigo asked. "You…you didn't ask for this. No one asks for this sort of burden," he said softly.

Zaraki put a hand on his head and stroked his hair gently, like he knew he liked. "I didn't ask. But I'll take it. You need someone, babe, and it has to be a bad ass mother fucker like me. I can handle the shit. I can handle you screaming at me. I can handle the nightmares. I can take it. That's why you landed in my fuckin' lap. Not because I asked, but because I can take it. You, you took it for a long time. Shit that no one deserves. And I can take shit for a while until you can stand up as the bad ass mother fucker I know you are deep down. And you know, if you want to stay around after that, I can take that too. That fighting spirit, ain't no fucker take that from you. I got it. And I saw it in you. So yeah, we're good."

Ichigo nodded and sat for a while longer before Zaraki moved and told him to eat. Without thinking he did as he was told. This time, though, it didn't feel degrading. This time, though, it felt comfortable.

_Friday, May 23rd, 2014 – 4:00 am_

_Outside Harribel's Compound_

Harribel dropped onto the seat of the car alongside her girls. Her sharks were safe, and they were well on their way to being safe. They were being transported by Kyōraku himself to Seireitei, to top level, where no one would find them. She glanced back at Sung Sun, Apacci, and Mila Rose. No words were spoken. The messages were going out among those loyal to her among the Espada and Aizen's lower ranks. Before long, they were in the garage and headed up to the rooms that had been designated for them. She thanked Kyōraku and he nodded.

"Can I do anything else?" he asked, smiling at her.

"The rest will be safe?" she asked, looking him over.

"Any that you confirm are working against Aizen will be safe once we get to them. I can't guarantee that they'll be safe before then. They know to not resist the shinigami, correct?" he asked.

"They do." She looked around. "I take it you have the Kurosaki boy here?" she said, turning back.

"He's upstairs with his family and Grimmjow and Nel," he said with another soft grin.

Harribel exhaled in relief. She hadn't been sure. "They were picked up by you?"

Kyōraku shook his head. "Not at all. It seems that a certain albino that was killed by Nnoitra wasn't really dead at all, and he was building his own army of opposition against Aizen."

Harribel nodded. "That's how people were disappearing from the warehouses. The boy built a network and was getting them out…"

He nodded. "Yes, so it seems. The second group will be picked up within an hour, the mail room boys you wanted picked up with the girl."

"Thank you," she said with a soft smile.

The captain nodded and left, heading back down. He was curious about the Kurosaki boy but he wasn't about to walk into that right now. The boy was having a hard enough time adjusting as it was, he didn't need more new people around him. At least he had Harribel in and safe. Now, it was just a matter of getting the rest of them out before the world really exploded. He drove back out into a driving rain. He frowned. He thought they were only supposed to get some high winds and rain out of this storm, but it seemed to be hitting early. He wondered sometimes if the weather people actually knew what they were talking about half the time.

_Friday, May 23rd, 2014 – 7:00 am_

_Espada Compound, Aizen's Office_

Aizen sat at his desk and wondered why he couldn't get in touch with Harribel or Nnoitra. Nnoitra he understood, but Harribel. He frowned and dialed up his security detail to head to her place to see if she was there. Something was going on, and the day before the huge meeting, he needed to know what it was. He looked up as Gin came in. He smiled and nodded to him.

"Aizen, sir, what would you be in need of today?" he said, his silver hair brushing over his eyes.

"Something's going on. I can't find Nnoitra and Harribel…" he began but the phone buzzed. He snatched it up. "Yes?" he said curtly. "She is? Very well, did they say when she'd be back? Day after tomorrow? Okay. Thank you."

"Well, one less problem. Harribel was called to an emergency meeting in Tokyo, which is why I can't get her. She's in flight. Now, as far as Nnoitra…" Aizen said, looking at Gin. "Make certain he's at the meeting at Las Noches tomorrow night. I don't tolerate failure, and his failure is going to end us."

"Of course, sir," Gin said, with a wide smile as he headed out. He pulled his phone out and dialed. "Tesla?" he asked.

"Gin, yes, can I help you?" came the voice on the other end.

"Where is Nnoitra?" Gin said tightly.

"Drunk and asleep," the young man answered.

"Make sure he makes it to Las Noches at seven tomorrow night, no matter what," Gin said as he stepped in to the elevator.

"Of course, sir," came the response.

Tesla, a young man wearing an eye patch similar to his employer, put down the phone and glanced at the bed where his master was sprawled. He supposed he was lucky Nnoitra didn't take a liking to him like he had the Kurosaki kid. He shivered at the thought. Tesla brushed his blonde hair from his eyes and adjusted the patch. The patch was courtesy of his boss, as well. The day after he murdered the albino, Aizen had sent a message to Nnoitra condemning the action. In a fit of rage he'd gone after Tesla, who had the misfortune to have delivered the message to his boss. He ended up being laid up in his bed for two weeks from the concussion and fractured orbital bone he'd gotten. He'd lost the use of the eye as well. It had been then he realized how bad it was. At first, when Nnoitra had taken him from the cages, he wasn't around very much. He ran errands, took messages, and never saw the orange headed kid. Then, he got his hands on Shiro and he began to see what was happening.

No, there was something very wrong with him. There was a vibration in his pocket. He pulled out a burner phone that had been left on the wheel of his car last night. There was only one person that would do that. He'd been checking that wheel ever since the last ones got out. Security had gotten tight, and he hadn't been able to help anymore. He wanted to help a lot more, but there was only so much he could do without being discovered by the others.

_The White Moon rises._

He smiled. _The tide falls, _he responded and put the phone back in his pocket. There would likely be no more contact from it. It was all that Shiro needed. The end was coming. He had to make certain of it. He couldn't take it anymore.

Like so many people that worked in Aizen's organization, Tesla had been drawn in without consent. His family owned a debt and he ended up paying off a life of indentured servitude. When it began he was just forced to work at Casino de Las Noches, then he witnessed the murder of Kaien Shiba. After that, there was no getting out again. At first, he counted himself lucky, seeing the abuse that others took off their masters. Nnoitra was only cruel to his fuck toy. Everyone told Tesla how lucky he was. He didn't feel lucky. He was an errand boy, a runner, and a mule, and he hated every minute of it. Most of all, he had to watch and be unable to stop it. The end was coming. For all of them.

He turned and looked out the window at the thick clouds that were bringing hard rain as the afternoon approached. He thought they'd said it would be morning before the hair. Had the typhoon changed course? Perhaps… The storm would break soon, and everything would come tumbling down.


	10. The Storm Breaks

**On Blade's Edge**

* * *

**Chapter Ten**

_The Storm Breaks_

* * *

_Friday May 23__rd__, 2014 – 9:00 am_

_Rukongai Motel_

Shiro stood in the bathroom at a no name hotel along the main road of Rukongai. It was a pay by the hour. He stood and stared at the reflection looking back at him. With his hair having no color, the hair dye took well. His hair was perhaps a shade or two lighter than Ichigo's, but once he cut the extra length off of it, it looked like it. He then reached into the bag and took out the needle and leaned over, piercing his eyebrows in the way Ichigo's had been done. He glanced up to the mirror where the picture of Ichigo from when he was taken into the hospital was taped. He'd get as close as he could to the appearance. He wiped away the blood. It wouldn't matter if the skin was red; he had to cake on makeup anyway. He went ahead with the other facial piercings, the cheeks, the lips, but he knew he couldn't manage the ears so he left his hair to hang over them. He did put a few in so at least the lobes were pierced.

He looked himself over and nodded. He'd sleep for a while and let the piercings set. He'd already taken a large dose of painkillers, and had used lidocaine on his face before he started. He didn't need the rest; of course, he'd be wearing the yukata he'd bought. It was sure to get Nnoitra's attention tonight before the meeting began. He smiled, letting his head drift away to dreams of what he had planned. Nnoitra's life would end, that was certain. And he, he would die today too. Perhaps just not in the way others expected. He turned off the lamp and let himself fade.

Today was the day his Kuro would be free. Today was the day that he would be free.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

_10:00 am_

_Rukongai police department_

Byakuya looked up as the rain began to pound on the windows. What happened to the storm blowing past them for the most part? They hadn't had a typhoon this strong in a while. He looked over the documents for the police action later that night. If the rain kept up, though, it was going to make things more difficult. There was a knock at the door and he looked up to see one of his officers handing him a file.

"Sir you should see this," he said softly. "It's an emergency weather report."

The man handed a file to Byakuya. "This could complicate matters," he muttered and stood up to turn on the TV.

"…from the weather service Typhoon conditions are possible in the next twenty four to forty eight hours. Advice immediate evacuation from coastal areas, and inland areas should remain indoors. Board windows if possible, and stay inside. Do not, repeat, do not go out into these conditions. Again, we repeat, the typhoon that was going to pass several miles outside the eastern coastline has changed direction and heading directly inland at this time. Anyone along the Ojiga-hama Coast needs to take measures to protect themselves…"

Byakuya turned it off. "A typhoon. In the middle of the biggest bust we've had in the last fifteen years." He sighed and shook his head.

He looked up as someone knocked on his door. "Ukitake," he said as the tall, white haired man came in a sat down, coughing into a tissue and smiling.

"How's Rukia?" he asked.

Byakuya nodded. "Good, I think sending her and Renji to stay at the Seireitei was the best idea. They're an extra layer of protection to keep the house safe. She's struggling. I sense a lot of guilt from both of them. The best way to fix it, though is to take down Aizen's operation and put an end to this, finally."

Ukitake nodded. "You know, you need this to end. You've worked yourself to the bone after that Las Noches case you had to pull off of."

Byakuya shook his head softly. "If it weren't for me, my family, we could have got him for that murder."

"We couldn't, and you know that. He had Hisagi's brother. There was never a chance. But we've got everything now. I've got so much on the bastard's drug division it is enough to sink him for two lifetimes. Zaraki's nailed the human trafficking to the wall, and I know that with Harribel coming in, we can freeze his legal assets. He can't get away this time," he said, pausing to cough into the tissue in his hand and panting for breath. "We all need a long break after this," he said as he stood. "I've got to make sure my teams are set to go."

Byakuya nodded and went over the files on the weather. If that typhoon it them dead on, it would help or hinder them, there was no guarantee of either. He sighed, and started making calls to the other captains that were helping with organization. This operation was huge, and it had to be, or things would fall through completely. He had given out all the information that they'd gathered to everyone. Now it was just a matter of waiting, and hoping that the blasted typhoon was on their side by the end of the day.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

_10:30 am_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Isshin sat and watched as the news began to report that the weather was turning bad. He looked up and saw Grimmjow sitting alone and staring into the distance, and he wondered what he had done to get involved with Aizen. What drove someone who had an obvious moral compass to do these things. He got up and moved closer to him. The blue haired man looked up, scratching the stubble growing over the ornate jawbone tattooed to his face.

"Typhoon conditions they're saying," Isshin said, glancing at the TV that was still on.

"Yeah," Grimmjow said, glancing over as well. "Hope the bust goes well."

Isshin nodded. After a few minutes he said, "Why, I'd like to know, why were you involved with Aizen?"

Grimmjow sighed and glanced at Nel who was in the kitchen with Orihime. "Stupid, to be honest, got caught by the wrong people. I'd be dead if I wasn't so good with explosives. I was useful, so I was kept. That's what he does, keep people that are useful and throw away the rest," he said with a nod. "And go after your loved ones, of course. And no one was more important than her, and I knew if I didn't do what he said, she was dead. He doesn't give us much choice at the end of the day, you know."

Grimmjow sighed, looking around. Isshin nodded and glanced at Urahara. "I suppose I can't blame you for getting stuck."

Grimmjow nodded. "So how are you involved? I mean, I got that Urahara is Aizen's brother, but you're Urahara's brother?"

Isshin nodded. "Urahara and Aizen share the same mother, and Urahara and I share the same father," he said with a soft smile. "We lost our cousin Kaien when Urahara left Aizen, because Kaien was helping him. He was murdered in Las Noches the week before my son was kidnapped. Urahara came to me after his murder, but it was too late because Aizen was already going after him. I was sitting there, the entire time, and it wasn't until his friend Orihime screamed that we even knew something was wrong. By the, well, you were there."

Grimmjow nodded. "Yeah, Ulquiorra and me did that one, Nnoitra was driving the van. I…" Grimmjow paled. "I'm glad I was there, because Nnoitra was talking shit the entire way back to Aizen's compound. The minute he fucking laid eyes on him, fucking perverted bastard…" he said, running a hand over his head. "I never thought, you know, that Aizen would let him…"

Isshin nodded. "I never thought he'd do something like that either. Murder is one thing, but to do what he did…" he said with a sigh. "Sometimes I can't believe I've lost so much to one person's greed…"

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

_Flashback_

_Thursday June, 21__st__, 2007_

_Casino de Las Noches_

"Are you sure?" Kaien said, glancing at his cousin. "You are really sure? He's doing that?"

Kisuke Urahara was standing inside the main office at Casino de Las Noches with his cousin Kaien Shiba, the man who been raised beside his father's youngest son, Isshin, and the one man he knew he could trust. Kaien ran the Casino on the up and up. He rented out the areas to Aizen's "friends" but he didn't know what went on there. The Casino belonged to him, after all. He'd bought it with hard earned money over the years.

"Kaien you don't understand, he's taking the Casino," Urahara said, running a hand through his pale blonde hair and glancing out the window for signs of his elder half-brother. Kaien was his cousin, Urahara's father's youngest brother was Kaien's father and Kaien had been raised as Isshin's brother practically by his mother, Kukaku.

"I don't, what do you mean?" Kaien asked, meshing dark brows together and staring at the paperwork.

Urahara sighed. "He's already drawn up the papers. He's bought it out from under you, Kaien. He's coming tonight to tell you that the Casino is his."

"How…why?" he asked, looking up at Urahara.

"You're a good man, that's why. He can't trust you. You have to understand, he's doing terrible things, cousin, terrible things. He's running drugs, prostitutes, all sorts of things. I didn't know, but now I do and this is the proof," he said, holding out a folder filled with files. I'm going to meet Lieutenant Kuchiki. He's going to help me get out of this before someone else gets hurt…these men he's bringing with him aren't friends, they aren't coworkers; they're violent and gangsters," Urahara said. "He knows you'll turn him in, so he's got to get rid of you. But this place, this is where he's doing everything."

Urahara had come to this conclusion the hard way after coming out and nearly running into the short, pale man with green eyes standing outside his house. It took him a little while to figure out that he was following him. When he stopped him and asked who he was he just said he was his "protection". Urahara didn't buy that for a second, but it took almost all day to shake the bastard from his tail. Once he had, he'd come to see Kaien. Maybe he could save him. He'd ended up getting all the paperwork he needed, including the emails he had hacked from the servers and deleted documents he'd recovered from Aizen's personal computer. Not only that, he had the money trails, the account numbers, and the dealers names. Everything. He would put a stop to it once and for all.

Aizen closed his eyes. Aizen had always had ambition, but to go this far. There was a buzz from his phone system and he saw that someone had pushed the panic alarm. He looked up. Aizen with a couple of men walking behind him carrying guns. That's why the security man had hit the panic alarm.

"Shit," Kaien said and looked at Urahara. "Look, back room, bottom drawer of the black file cabinet, this is the key, it is everything that Aizen's ever done here. He has the other key," he said, pressing the key into Urahara's hand. "I'll buy you some time," he said and smiled gently.

"Kaien, you should run, he's…" Urahara said. He didn't want to say that Aizen had no plans to let him live.

"I know. I'm disposable, but you aren't, take care of that little brother of mine, well, the fat one and the brat with the kids. I'll do what I can," he said, patting him on the back and pointing to the door that led to the file room. "Just hurry."

Urahara just nodded and hit the stairs. He fumbled into the cabinet and got the files and was just getting into the alley when he heard the sharp report of the gunshot. He closed his eyes and gave a prayer before he ran for all he was worth. He had to get out of Rukongai and make it to Karakura Town before Aizen got to Isshin and his kids.

Inside, things happened so fast that even those that saw it were shocked into silence before everyone started running. Kaien came out and Aizen stopped and then grinned.

"You helped him."

"Of course," Kaien said, smiling. "I had to."

"Of course you did, of course," Aizen said and turned to the tall, lanky man behind him and held out his hand. The lanky man with dark hair put a gun in Aizen's hand. "You know what that means."

"You took my place, there's nothing left," Kaien said with a smile.

"True. And I was going to let you leave, Kaien Shiba, under threat that I'd go after your little family, Isshin was his name, right, the one your mother raised? See, he's also Urahara's brother. And I need to hurt him. Now, I really need to hurt you. So I'm going to go after him. That way you can both have knowledge that you are at fault for the pain you bring him. So I want you to die knowing that by helping Urahara in his misguided attempt at justice, you've condemned your precious family," Aizen said, holding up the pistol and looking at him. "Anything you want to say?"

Kaien shrugged. "I knew that you'd be the death of me."

Aizen nodded and pulled the trigger. The noise sent the employees running and very few were stopped before they got out. The Hisagi boy managed to hide until the cops arrived but other than that, the others fled. Aizen wiped the camera footage before he left. The cops arrived to find one witness, one dead body, and one gun wiped free of prints. Aizen was taken in, but tested negative for gunshot residue, of course he'd changed clothes immediately and had worn gloves. The only thing connecting him was the Hisagi boy. Then, things fell apart rapidly. By the next day, Urahara arrived at Isshin's house, and Sunday morning they were already deciding how to go about things when Ichigo was kidnapped.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

_Present_

_Friday May 23__rd__, 2014 – 1:00 pm_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Ichigo looked up to the high windows where wind and rain lashed at them. It reminded him of more than one occasion that he'd been bound during such storms inside the compound. Nnoitra had always been upset by storms for some reason. He never really knew the answer to that one. He turned when he heard the door open and close and saw that it was Zaraki returning with lunch for him. He still couldn't handle being out in the open so much yet.

"Hey, brought you something different," Zaraki said, sitting down on the bed beside where Ichigo was curled into a ball against the headboard. Zaraki wished that he would show some sign that he was coming out of it. Of course, it hadn't been a week yet, so he was trying to be patient. It was just so hard. He had to find that one thing to bring him out, though, he had to find that one thing worth lighting that spark.

Ichigo nodded and sat up, glancing up as a strong gust of wind whistled against the high window. "What did you bring?" he asked, slowly coming toward him.

Zaraki smiled and pulled the lid off the plate to reveal an elegantly prepared plate of sushi. Ichigo's father had told him that he adored sushi, especially rainbow rolls. Ichigo's eyes lit up immediately. Zaraki smiled finally as he reached out and tentatively picked up the chopsticks and plucked one of the rolls from the plate and dipped it into the wasabi slowly, as though it was going to disappear. Without thinking, Ichigo had moved to kneel in front of the small table, and he started eating for the first time without prompting from Zaraki. Before he knew it, he'd finished it off and then he stared at the empty plate and back to Zaraki and then to the plate.

"I…I…I…" he stammered.

"Hush, don't start apologizing for eating the food I gave you to eat," Zaraki groused, moving the table and turning to look at him as he took the chopsticks from his slackening hands.

Ichigo couldn't believe it. He ate food without asking, without instruction, without…was Zaraki right? Were they all right? Was it possible he wasn't completely dead inside?

A loud and glass rattling boom of thunder shocked Ichigo into yelping, just at that moment and he grabbed onto the nearest thing, which was of course, Zaraki. The larger man held to the trembling form as Ichigo tightened his grip. He swallowed and shook his head, but he refused to say it. He wasn't going to keep being sorry. He wasn't sorry. So instead he just held the larger man all the tighter and remembered vividly the last time he'd been in these conditions.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

_Flashback_

_November 2013_

_Espada Compound_

Ichigo had long since stopped resisting. Things now moved in a clockwork fashion for him. He did as he was instructed. There was only one exception, and that was now and then, he had the overwhelming desire to run, and he did just that. When it happened, it led to sound beatings, and a night fixed in place on the cross or the chair, but he still would do it anyway. The only way he had to rebel was in those moments. Despite the pain, his spirit was not completely broken.

That fact alone was enough to keep Nnoitra interested in him. No matter the pain, the beatings, the humiliation, or torture he put Ichigo through, he still didn't break completely. Nnoitra loved it. He had found someone with an unbreakable spirit, and he reveled in his ownership of him. He reveled in showing him off and making certain that everyone knew that he enjoyed the fact he was not a shell groveling at his feet.

It was one of the storms that had pushed Nnoitra and Ichigo from their rooms. The skylight had crashed down and they were forced out into one of the common rooms to wait out the storm. Nnoitra had wrapped Ichigo's leash around his leg and kept him pressed tight against his leg while he played idly with his hair. Zommari came in, leading his doped up Luppi behind him and sitting him in front of the fireplace.

"You sure you ain't in love with your boy?" Zommari said with a smirk.

Nnoitra narrowed his eyes at the large man across from him. "Fuck off, Zommie. I've told you, don't piss me off. I've got more dirt on you than anyone except old Barragan," he said with a roll of his eyes.

Zommari snorted. "Shut up, Nnoitra."

"What? You wouldn't want that daddy of yours to learn that the real reason you haven't given him an heir is that you're too busy fucking boys up the ass instead of finding a pussy hole?" Nnoitra said with a wide smirk, hands still threading through Ichigo's hair.

Zommari glared at him. "We agreed, Nnoitra, are you breaking your part of our bargain?"

Nnoitra rolled his eyes. "No, fuck, just messing with you, dammit. Our agreement is still on. You get a bitch of mine to fuck and knock up, and your asshole crime family gets an heir. When are you going to do that shit, anyway? You ain't got a lot of time, you know."

Zommari sighed. "Soon, I guess."

Zommari had joined Aizen's group through Barragan on one of the old man's visits to Central and South America. He was the youngest son of a Haitian crime family and had no real future in the family, but a whole lot of good connections for Aizen to exploit by using the Rureaux family name in the Caribbean and Central America. He was expected to give a child to the family before he turned forty; else his father would disown him. If that happened, he'd be blacklisted and no doubt be dead within a month. He only had a couple years before he was out of time, and putting them off with the reason he hadn't found the right woman was starting to wear thin. Almost twenty years of the same excuse had even his mother wary. Nnoitra knew this, and to keep Zommari on his side, he used the fact he knew it. He'd told Zommari to give him one of his girls to knock up if he promised to be a good boy. Zommari couldn't stand the bastard, but there wasn't much choice. His father wouldn't care that he was gay, but he would care that he wouldn't be given an heir.

"Fuck, you Nnoitra," he said, standing up and taking Luppi and leaving him alone in the room.

Nnoitra looked down and a smile crossed his face as he ran his hands through Ichigo's hair. "Baby boy, you are the only reason I live," he whispered before the thunder drowned out his voice.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

_Present_

_Friday May 23__rd__, 2014 – 2:00 pm_

_Seireitei Safe House_

Wonderweiss hissed at the TV again as the power flickered on and off. The storm didn't seem to bother him in the least. However, everyone else had gathered with him around the TV. The satellite had gone out, of course, and the only thing they had was an old DVD of game shows that had been in Wonderweiss's bag. Since there's a backup generator even if they lose power, the TV won't go out, and it is keeping everyone's mind off the building Typhoon outside their doors. Even with the insulation of the Safe House, they can all hear the storm blowing in. Before the reception went out, weather said that the typhoon was going to hit them head on and had no sign of slowing down before expected landfall at eight that evening.

"Oh, good lord, look at that hair!" Tatsuki said, pointing to one of the done up high hairstyles on the show.

There was giggling among the girls. It seemed that Nel had become fast friends with Orihime and Tatsuki, and it seemed she was quickly becoming close to Lisa and Mashiro. Hiyori still hung back from all of them. Rose was still in talking to Luppi, and Zaraki had gone in with Ichigo over an hour ago. Isshin and Grimmjow sat together at the kitchen table, halfway watching the TV, and halfway watching the scanner that sat in the middle of the table. Renji and Rukia, of course had gone with the teams. Shinji and the others were lying around the room in various places, trying to watch the TV shows with the girls, but looking back at the table, unsure of where they would better be.

Another round of thunder sent the TV off and Wonderweiss let out a strange sound and then the generator kicked on. He muttered a few things and then returned the TV and DVD back on so they could watch it again. No one complained when it started all over again. They just went on and watched it, some of them speaking the answers in time with the DVD, and picking on the merchandise sales and laughing crazily. Rin had taken to sitting very close to Wonderweiss and seemed to have become quite good friends with him. No one was talking about what was coming. They all knew the storm would be breaking soon.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

_Friday May 23__rd__, 2014 – 5:00 pm_

_Casino de Las Noches_

Shiro moved into his position at around four pm, making sure to stay in view of the Shinigami agents. He saw more than one of them grow annoyed because they were under orders to restrain him. He knew the game, and no one could play it better than him. Shiro had his own play to make. He had to make it. For himself, and for Kuro. So instead, he sat at the bar; drinking sake and waiting until he head the first familiar voice enter the front where he sat. The back room entrance was a few feet from where he sat. He smiled as he heard Zommari's voice and saw the huge black man pass him to go into the back.

Outside Byakuya was trying to keep the microphones working but the rain was drenching by this point. They could not move until Aizen was on sight. They had enough to put him away, but they had to catch him first.

"First one's arriving, Rureaux, sir," Renji said from his position inside the front coat closet. Byakuya always grinned when Renji called him sir. He thought it was adorable.

"Keep an eye out for the fucking albino," he said.

"Already on site, sir, he's at the bar," came someone else's voice across the coms. "I've got him if he moves."

"Don't break cover, but keep eyes on him. He's after Nnoitra, we know that," Byakuya said.

A few minutes later, a few others came in, and then all that was left was Nnoitra and Aizen himself. Byakuya was getting nervous when a car pulled up and the tall lanky bastard stumbled out the door. A shorter man with an umbrella led him into the building, also with one eye, and it was obvious this one was waiting for something. Everyone tensed to see what Shiro would do. If he wanted to, he could blow the whole thing. They just hoped that he wasn't that stupid.

Shiro, of course, had no intention of blowing anything. He heard Tesla's voice and he turned around and locked his eyes on Tesla's one remaining eye and grinned. Tesla nodded, telling Nnoitra something as he took their coats and the umbrella and turned around. Nnoitra's eyes lifted and locked on Shiro's back as he dashed from the bar to the hall leading to the back exit. From behind, he looked identical to Ichigo with the dyed hair. He heard him following and he hit the exit at a run. He knew that he'd follow him. He knew the Shinigami wouldn't follow him.

Shiro splashed through the puddles and driving rain, keeping the hood over his head where he felt the dripping makeup running already. He wouldn't need it anymore. Something told him that Nnoitra might be as ready to die for his sins as Shiro was to kill him. It didn't take much to get to the docks where he paused and pulled down the hood and saw the Nnoitra was hot on his tail. He smiled and slipped into the warehouse. The surf was rising fast, and he knew that this building would be under before the night was over. Eight pm, they'd said. It was a little after seven. When the main typhoon hit, he had a feeling the whole building would come down. That was just fine by him.

He got inside and scrambled up the rigging to a makeshift catwalk he'd put up earlier in the day as Nnoitra came into the room looking around.

"White and black, whispers in the dark, could it be Nnoitra's off the mark?" Shiro called, lilting his voice even higher than normal.

"I swear to fuck, if you aren't him, I'll cut your throat," he growled, pulling a wicked looking butterfly knife from his pocket and dancing it over his hands.

It was obvious that Shiro was right. Nnoitra's hair was unkempt, pulled back haphazardly, and his one eye was surrounded by a dark circle. His bandana over his other eye was dirty and much in need of a wash. He was wearing a suit and tie, but the tie was barely together, and it looked like he'd been dressed by Tesla. Shiro grinned swinging down and landing behind Nnoitra and the door. Nnoitra turned and glared at the figure in the dark.

Shiro grinned in the darkness and stepped into the light so Nnoitra could get a look at him. The orange die was dripping down his face with the makeup in some strange semblance of a weeping clown, only the paint was flesh colored instead of white. He wasn't wearing contacts, he didn't care if he saw his eyes.

"I promised, I promised you pain," he said, voice lowering a bit as his eyes locked on Nnoitra's face.

"You," Nnoitra said, eye widening in shock. "No, I'm seeing things, you're fucking dead…and if I'm seeing dead things, is he dead too?" he said, hand shaking with the knife gripped loosely.

"Oh no, the black demon lives, and the white demon dies, don't you know, death comes for you, straight as the crow flies," Shiro said, sauntering forward, his hips swaying as he closed the distance between them. Nnoitra's face faltered. "I didn't die, I didn't die, and now you will pay," Shiro said, and leaped without another warning.

Nnoitra had enough thought to put up the knife and drive it through Shiro's shoulder as he impacted with him. Blood spurted and Shiro just grinned at him. Nnoitra's shock was apparent as Shiro grabbed the knife from the bleeding wound and winked at Nnoitra before he planted the knife into his good eye without a second thought. Nnoitra screeched, blinded now completely, as Shiro got up and snatched a shackle he'd laid out ahead of time and snapped one of Nnoitra's hands to it. The surf began flowing over the low floor.

"Nnoitra, shut up," he said as he picked up another shackle and attached it to one of his ankles.

"Fuck you! You're fucking dead!" he screamed.

"Nope, not so dead. You didn't quite kill me. And you should have. I'm going to kill you now, not for me, but for Ichigo. You hurt him so much, no more will you hurt anyone," he said, taking his knife and cutting through Nnoitra's shirt and pulling hard until he felt the shoulder pop out of place.

Shiro didn't mind the screaming so much. Nnoitra quickly lost the ability to make words, and that was okay by Shiro. When he was done, it was after midnight, and the water was swirling around his waist. The typhoon was passing, and now the tide would pull back the remains into the ocean. He smiled and held tightened the shackle on the hand and wrist so it stayed in place. Then he smiled and put his hand down on the board and pressed the knife against his knuckle and severed the last two fingers of his left hand off. He grimaced and pulled the bandages he'd brought and wrapped it tight, leaving the two digits as evidence of his own demise. He left two knives behind, sure to be caught in the debris. There was no doubt what happened. He stepped out, the rain beginning to slack off by now, and disappeared into the depths of the darkness, a shadow among the shadows.

Behind him, sirens blared still in the direction in which Casino de Las Noches reside.


End file.

Bleach, Hurt-Comfort, Romance